


Leave It To Us

by ThatSassyCaptain



Category: Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Action/Adventure, Aliens, Conspiracy, Gen, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mystery, Non-Graphic Violence, some torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-26
Updated: 2016-09-06
Packaged: 2018-08-11 04:47:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 63,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7877158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatSassyCaptain/pseuds/ThatSassyCaptain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Enterprise is on a less than routine mission in a dangerous portion of space. Sandwiched between Tholian Space and the Klingon Empire, the Enterprise is attacked by an unknown vessel which leaves them nearly dead in the water. With disaster upon them, Nurse Chapel and Lieutenant Uhura find it up the themselves to figure things out and figure them quick.<br/>-Or-<br/>Chapel and Uhura kick butt and take names. <br/>[Cross-posted on FFN]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to do a story that focuses on how cool Chapel & Uhura are in their respective fields. To be fair, I don't know a ton about subspace frequencies and chemical burns, but I tried to keep everything as accurate as I was able.

The USS _Enterprise_ kept its course. They were shooting the gap between Klingon and Tholian space, a potentially dangerous maneuver, but a necessary one. Starfleet had ordered the flagship out to Starbase 38, a research station close to the edge of explored space. Starbase 38 was nearly the Federation's 'Welcome Center'. Many called it 'Gateway' or 'Mile One', as it stood on the edge of everything they had mapped with certainty. Indeed, it was the 'Gateway' into the unknown. It was the last regular Starbase on the Federation's charts in that direction, and likely the first to be encountered by any wayward species moving inward from the Beta Quadrant. This was precisely what Starfleet wanted. Starbase 38 served as both an exploratory waypoint and a potential welcome committee. Any exploratory beings would be able to meet this shining example of Federation hospitality first thing. Many of the fleet's finest had their own opinions about the practicality of the base, but that had little sway with the politicians. No, the sensibly armed yet 'peaceful' base was here to stay.

That's where the _Enterprise_ was headed with prominent researcher Tillmann Gehrke. Doctor Gehrke was a German-born xenolinguist with a passion for diplomacy. Any cadet remotely interested in a Communications position swallowed his papers such as 'The Importance of Inflections in Any Multi-Lingual Discussion' and the like whole. In addition to literary achievement, Gehrke also had a reputation as a stellar lecturer. Both his knowledge and experience were deemed 'invaluable' by Starfleet and, at his request, had granted him permission to settle down at Starbase 38. Gehrke would continue his much-coveted research in addition to his new responsibilities on the welcome committee.

Both Doctor Gehrke and his assistant, Ensign Domanova, were present on the Bridge when Ensign Chekov reported their progress.

"We are approximately four hours from our destination, Keptin."

Captain Kirk shifted his weight in the chair. As monotonous as this trip had been so far, a certain wariness had come from passing so close to both Klingon and Tholian space. He knew the likelihood of an attack was slim to none. Still, they'd run into worse scrapes with even further distance. Either way, they were proceeding at warp 8. If anything did attack them, it would have a heck of a time keeping up.

"Thank you, Mister Chekov. Mister Sulu," He turned to the helm, glancing back at the view screen. "Anything to report?"

Sulu began to shake his head out of habit before correcting himself and responding verbally. "No sir. She's handling just fine."

Kirk nodded more to himself than anyone else. "Good work. Keep it up." He swiveled in his chair. Spock was nose deep in his scanners. Ever vigilant, the _Enterprise_ would have to keep a close eye on their surroundings. One misstep could land them in hot water with either the Klingons or the Tholians. _It's good that Spock is keeping watch,_ Kirk thought as he shot a glance back at the view screen, _Who knows what kind of trouble we could run into out here? Well, I suppose it's a good thing we have Doctor Gehrke onboard. If anyone can talk us out of an interplanetary war, it's him._

A quiet laugh drew his attention. He looked over to see the linguist in an animated conversation with his Communications Officer. Lieutenant Uhura was in the middle of a Swahili joke, which Doctor Gehrke apparently appreciated. He chuckled again, responding in German. Kirk couldn't help but smile. Doctor Gehrke was a likable character- he even got along with Doctor McCoy- which, Kirk supposed, aided his efforts as a diplomat and lecturer. Gehrke had made many friends amongst the crew. This had surprised Kirk, given the typical nature of Federation diplomats. Usually, the _Enterprise_ hosted an array of supercilious ambassadors, most of whom loathed the entire process. There would be complaints from passengers and crewmen alike. Kirk would have to remind his people _not_ to engage the guests in combat.

Gehrke was different. He lunched in the mess hall with the crew, instead of demanding private meals and banquets with the officers. The linguist discussed everything from politics to pastimes, always listening to and engaging his audiences. There was nary a quiet meal, and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Suddenly, the laughter stopped. Uhura had one hand held up, the other pressed to her earpiece. She listened for a moment, before turning to Kirk.

"Captain, we're being hailed. The USS _Sophia_. Their captain is asking for you, sir."

Kirk nodded, turning to Spock. "Do you know the _Sophia_ , Spock? The name seems familiar, but I'm having trouble placing her…"

Spock looked up from his work. "The USS _Sophia_ , NCC 2010-7, is a _Sydney-_ Class transport vessel, under the command of Captain Suriee Lauriston. The _Sophia_ has just entered scanner range. I was about to report their presence when Lieutenant Uhura received the transmission. It seems as though they have been expecting us."

"Ah, Lauriston! She was the helmsman on the _Republic_ while I was with them. I wonder what the _Sophia_ is doing all the way out here?" He grinned at Spock, who simply stared back at him. "Anyways, I'm sure Lauriston will tell us. Put her on, Lieutenant!"

Uhura's 'yes, Captain' echoed across the quiet Bridge. Kirk returned his attention to the view screen, eagerly awaiting the transmission. Spock returned to his work on the scanners.

In a moment, the stars had disappeared. Flickering in their place was the Bridge of the _Sophia_ , Captain Lauriston at the conn. She smiled as her own view screen came to life.

"Kirk. How've you been?"

Kirk grinned. He hadn't seen Lauriston since he'd transferred off the _Republic_ to return to Starfleet Academy. She looked essentially the same as before, only this time she had the stripes of a Captain instead of an Ensign. Several fond memories of the _Republic_ came back to him then. Most of the time, he could only recall Ben Finney and the Court Martial. Yet, he had enjoyed much of his time on the ship. He remembered an eventful day in the rec room where all of the Command Ensigns had pitted themselves against Sciences in a rough game of dodge ball. Back when he was merely 'a stack of books with legs', contests like these were more challenging than he would find them now. His mental recollection of that game included many hard hits and a good few blocks on his behalf from Lauriston.

"I'm doing pretty well, Lauriston. How's command been treating you? You haven't changed a bit since the _Republic._ "

The other captain laughed. "That's a pretty good joke. I'm surprised I haven't gone grey from all the close scrapes we've had in this sector alone."

Kirk's eyebrows rose. "You're stationed all the way out here?"

"Not exactly." Lauriston clarified. "The _Sophia's_ officially stationed out of Starbase 67 as a transport vessel for these in-between trips. We're taking the Gateway's CMO all the way back home for maternity leave. The Admiralty's also approved shore leave for all of us Sophies. I'd say the crew's pretty excited."

Several of Lauriston's Bridge personnel fought to hide their grins. From what Kirk could tell, they were all giddy. _What crew wouldn't be, stationed at the edge of Federation Space with the Klingons on the left, and the Tholians on the right? Not to mention a whole host of other dangers._

"Congrats, Suriee. Sounds like you all deserve some time off. So, you just came from Starbase 38? How's the weather over there?"

It was well known amongst starship Captains that Starbase Commanders were another breed and often had territory issues. It was almost common practice to warn incoming ships about the local climate. Having some idea of a Starbase CO's temperament could mean a world of difference in their relations.

Lauriston pushed down a grimace. "Well, we didn't hit it off, Jim, but Commodore Corbett seemed like he could be a decent guy. He runs a tight station, hyper-vigilant when it comes to protocol, especially concerning incoming vessels. You'll want to have all your ducks in a row for this one."

Kirk nodded slowly, considering things. _So, this Corbett is a stickler for protocol. I'd better let everyone know, and soon. Better still if we can organize all possible 'landing parties' accordingly. Get any group of people straightened out before we even arrive._

"I'll keep that in mind. Well, Suriee, I'd hate to keep you and yours from that leave. I'll let you and the Sophies get along."

Lauriston gave him a mock salute. "Thanks, Jim. I'll see you when I see you. Lauriston out."

The view screen went dark. The stars reappeared, and for a moment the Bridge crew could see the little _Sydney-_ class floating out in space. Then, the _Sophie_ disappeared in a streak of light.

"She's making warp four, Captain." Sulu commented from the helm. "I'd say that's a pretty good takeoff speed for a vessel of that type."

Kirk smiled. "Lauriston will push her engines, if I know her like I used to. She was always itching to gun it on the _Republic._ Never got the chance. I bet she has her helm pull back as soon as they're out of scanner range. Though, I wouldn't be surprised if the _Sophie_ could do warp six in a pinch. She'd be close to bursting, but in a pinch…"

He trailed off, thinking of Lauriston and the _Republic._ Kirk remembered the other captain's words. _Get our ducks in a row, eh? Well, now's the time to do it. I'll make sure Gehrke's security detail is assigned, as well as everyone with research to drop off._ In addition to chauffeuring the linguist, the _Enterprise_ was delivering some biomedical research results to the science officers on the Starbase. One Lieutenant Commander Linois was doing a study on various chemical components found in this region of space. Kirk didn't really have a clue about it, but Spock had assured him that this study was 'most fascinating'.

Either way, he had some business to attend to. "Mister Sulu, take the conn. Spock, with me. We've got to get some paperwork done before we reach Starbase 38." He rose, beckoning for Spock to follow. They proceeded to the turbolift.

"Deck Six." He turned to his First Officer. "Once we get an idea of the scope of our landing crews, can you contact your researchers and determine who we'll need to send down and with what?"

"Affirmative, Captain. I have already begun to categorize the necessary personnel for our needs. Might I suggest that we hold a conference with these individuals before our arrival."

"That's a pretty good idea, Spock. Once we get down there, we'll have everyone assemble. Shouldn't be too much trouble."

"I agree, Captain."

They arrived on Deck Six. There was a little foot traffic as they made their way to the conference room, but nothing too much. Crewmen nodded at the pair as they passed, some on their way to their quarters, some just now going to their stations. Kirk remembered that, yes it was around the time for shifts to change. _Good._ He realized. _Everyone who's likely to be leaving later on will be awake and alert. This should be a productive meeting._

He and Spock arrived in the conference room. Empty as it was, there was still that feeling of business completed. Kirk could think of countless meetings held here in both calm and crisis. Department Heads, diplomats, ambassadors, all kinds had gathered here to discuss what was what. This was where they came to make decisions. Right now, it was a matter of protocol.

"Spock…" Kirk began, taking a seat. "Which of your researchers did you have in mind for this assignment? I was thinking Flores, Bozian, and Delgado to deliver the reports to Starbase 38's science officers."

Spock considered his Captain's words. "I agree that Flores and Delgado are excellent choices for the task at hand. Bozian, though a competent researchers, primarily specializes in biology, not chemistry. Perhaps _Buolos_ would make a more logical choice…?"

Kirk smacked the table with his palm. "Buolos! You're right, Spock. I had the two mixed up. Now why did…" He snapped in realization. "They were both on the team when we visited the research lab on Para V. That's it."

"You recall correctly, Captain. Shall I assemble the researchers?"

Kirk shook his head. "Not yet, Spock. We still need to select the security detail. If Corbett's anything like what Lauriston said- she didn't say much, but I think I read some of her cues- he's probably one for ceremony too. The more distinguished the guest or the occasion, the more 'effort' he'll expect us to put into it. I'd suggest we put Chief Giotto on it, for sure. I'd say Freeman too- his record will look good to Corbett, given his time as CSO. And Meriwether. She's next in line for Chief. Normally, I'd say no to sending all three down at once… Actually, never mind on Freeman. We need somebody holding down the fort, especially in this part of space."

Spock took note of the change. He had been recording information on his PADD for some time now. "I agree with you logic, Captain. It would be wise to leave the ship well guarded and alert for any danger. Although our departure will be brief, there is no reason to believe that everything will proceed in an orderly fashion."

"Or a predictable one." Kirk added, resting his elbows on the table. True, the Tholians didn't wander out of their space often. For that at least, Kirk was grateful. However, they'd encountered wayward Klingons in just about every single sector they'd explored, expectedly or not. And now, they were practically warping through the Klingons' backyard. It would be ridiculous to leave the ship unguarded for a second, regardless of how safe the Starbase's track record was.

"All right." He continued after a moment. "So we have Giotto down, and Meriwether. Who else? I think a compliment of at least four would give off the right message. Lauriston's hardly a cool customer, that's not quite her style. If that rubbed Corbett the wrong way, then we'll have to be the soul of order. What do you say, Spock?"

Spock finished recording the last snippet of data. "It would be prudent to conform with Commodore Corbett's style of management, regardless of our own methods. If we wish to conduct our assignment as efficiently and smoothly as possible, I would recommend sending Lieutenant Zajimovic along with the security detail, as well as Lieutenant Valero. Both are distinguished officers with records as impeccable as that of Lieutenant Meriwether."

"I like the way you think. Tack on Ensign Raschke as well for an even five."

Spock eyed him for a moment, weighing the decision whether to point out that five was indeed _not_ an even number. Logic dictated, and so it was done.

"Captain. Mathematical principle states that five is not an even number, as it is not perfectly divisible by two. Might I inquire as to why you would refer, illogically, to five as even?"

Kirk chuckled. "Aesthetically, Spock, it will look well-rounded to have five on hand. Just a hunch, more than anything, although I can see why 'even five' would be considered highly illogical. No, it's more a matter of perspective, I think. In my experience with fleet Commodores, I feel like I've got Corbett about figured out. He's welcoming a distinguished linguist and the flagship as part of a direct order from the Admiralty. He'll do whatever it is he thinks will put out the image of a crack Starbase, a well-oiled machine of protocol and polished excellence. That includes holding everyone else to higher-than-reasonable standards. If that's his game, then we'll just have to play if we want a smooth time of it."

"I see. We are to fulfill these unspoken expectations of the Commodore's, with only an indirect warning to guide us. Fascinating."

"What's fascinating, exactly, Spock?" Kirk paused, his hand hovering just over the comm in preparation to summon his new teams.

"Human behavior in general, Captain. Specific to this circumstance: the codes of conduct that humans hold each other to, especially within their own circles. This dynamic likely evolved of your species' bureaucratic dabbles, and would make a most interesting study."

"I never thought of it like that, Spock. True, we do have our own social codes, as do most species, but the way you put it earlier strikes a funny note."

Spock picked his PADD up to make another note. "What precisely are you referring to?"

"Well, y-" At that moment, the ship lurched. Kirk gripped the table to steady himself. In an instant the klaxon was blaring. Red Alert. Kirk lunged for the comm again.

"Bridge, report! What's going on up there?"

The _Enterprise_ shuddered again before Sulu could respond.

" _They came out of nowhere, sir! An unidentified vessel, bearing one point-"_

A crash and a scream cut off Sulu's words.

"Sulu! Answer me! What's happening?" The icy hand of fear gripped his heart. What had happened to Sulu? He was helpless, listening in on a battle that he wasn't a part of. _Yet._

" _I'm fine, sir, but Doctor Gehrke has sustained an injury. Lieutenant Uhura, can you_ -"

"No, Sulu, keep her trying to hail that other ship. I'll call Bones myself. Kirk out."

He signed off and pressed a different button.

"McCoy! Get to the Bridge, now! We've got casualties. Sulu's up there and Spock and I are on our way."

There was a huff and a sigh from the other end.

" _Fine, Jim, fine! I'm on my way."_

McCoy ended the call without another word. _Just as well,_ Kirk thought. Aloud, he summoned Spock.

"We don't have time to waste. Grab that PADD and let's move!"

Together, the raced to the turbolift. McCoy was inside, waiting impatiently. Despite the situation, or perhaps because of it, the Doctor seemed more surly than usual.

"Y'all couldn't've just waited 'til I was already on the Bridge! Well, hurry up! I've got a patient. Time's a' wastin'!"

Kirk grabbed the turbolift handle. "Bridge" Was his only comment. McCoy proceeded to ignore them both for the duration of the trip. The lift stopped. When the doors opened, the three men were met with unparalleled chaos. Sulu was still in the captain's chair, but it looked like he would willingly vacate. Sparks were flying from three consoles, Chekov was picking himself up off the floor, and McCoy found his first patient.

Ensign Domanova was on his knees, bending over the still form of Doctor Gehrke. From the looks of things, a section of the Communications console had blown, leaving him to collect the shrapnel. McCoy shoved Spock out of his path. He was at Gehrke's side at once, already running his tricorder over the linguist.

Kirk relieved Sulu. The Helmsman bounded over to resume his post. Spock crossed the distance to his station, only to find it one of the casualties of battle.

"Any idea who's firing on us?"

"None yet, sir. They didn't hail us." Sulu replied, trying desperately to guide the _Enterprise_ into a more defensible position.

"Uhura! Anything on hailing frequencies? Any frequencies?"

Uhura, looking disheveled but unharmed by her charred console, shook her head. "Nothing I can make out. I'm running the Universal Translator through all frequencies just in case."

"The Translator?" The view screen, still agonizingly empty, consumed Kirk's attention. "What for?"

Sulu took this one up. "It's unlike any other ship I've ever seen. Not Klingon, not Tholian. Completely unfamiliar."

"Good, then, keep doing it, Lieutenant. Chekov, are we picking anything up on the scanners?"

Chekov had reclaimed his seat and was now punching buttons furiously.

"Aye, sir, although what it is, I cannot say. Logging the readings now…"

The ship shuddered. Kirk slammed his fist onto the armrest before rethinking. He comm'd Engineering.

"Scotty! What are our options? How are the shields?"

He could hear the grinding of metal on the other end of the line. _Scotty's having a rough time of it too. This doesn't look good…_

"We have phasers online, sir! As far as shields go…"

There was a crackle and the line went dead.

"Scotty? Scotty! Answer me! Uhura," He snapped, "What happened?"

The Lieutenant was mashing buttons with a ferocity that rivaled Chekov's. "I don't know sir. The line just went dead. In fact, sir… I think I've lost all power to my console."

Kirk growled, a rare sound even on the Bridge. He was downright furious. There was no way he'd tolerate this. If anyone needed another indicator of their Captain's mood, this was it. "Will somebody get me some answers? We can't even see them! Sulu, bring us around! I want a visual, now!"

Sulu did his best, but the helm was responding sluggishly. Suddenly, it was there- a ship unlike any they'd ever seen. Almost entirely circular, the main section of the ship sat between two-thirds of an arc that wrapped around the sides and back of the sphere, suspending it. Electricity shot out from the inside edges of the arc, striking the sphere and various points. The whole thing glowed.

"Chekov, scan it. I want to know everything."

Something blinked on the hull of the other ship. An object hurtled into clarity faster than they could think. The _Enterprise_ rocked. The lights died, plunging the Bridge into darkness. Emergency lights powered on, but soon those began to flicker as well. Before they would lose gravity, Kirk gave an order.

"Sulu! Fire phasers _now!_ "

The helmsman punched it.

"Direct hit, sir!"

The sphere shook under the impact. Several of the electrical strikes ceased altogether. It was the enemy's turn to brace for impact. It was gratifying, but unexpected. Whatever power they could spare for the phasers wouldn't cause the enemy ship to rock about like that. _Unless it's a much smaller, less protected class of ship than one would expect to have that kind of firepower._ Kirk decided to save his musings for later. The spherical ship appeared to be retreating.

"Don't pursue, Sulu," He ordered, "I don't know if we can."

The ship was vibrating lightly and the lights were still out. Only the red alert and emergency lights were still in operation. Kirk supposed he must be thankful for that. _At least we have some power. I don't know what they hit, but at least we can limp to 38 on impulse. If nothing else, then Lauriston isn't so far away. We still have the shuttles, too, if worse comes to worse._

"Jim."

It was McCoy. In all honesty, he'd forgotten about the doctor and patient as soon as he'd sat in the chair. When they were at full battle stations firing upon the enemy, he was all in. Kirk vacated his chair to tend to his guest.

"What's the situation, McCoy?"

The Doctor was sitting on his heels, holding a tricorder. Domanova was at his side, looking up anxiously.

"It's not good, Jim, I can say that much. There's not much light in here, but Gehrke's got some arterial damage. His neck's been just about shredded on one side, too. Gotta get him to Sickbay right away. Can you spare Uhura? I don't speak German."

Kirk wondered at the request, but soon heard the murmuring. Gehrke was incoherent but could at any moment provide something useful. Unfortunately, at this point it was in his native tongue.

"Go. Uhura, you're with McCoy. Spock, see if you can get Scotty back on. I want to know what's happening to my ship!"

McCoy and Domanova carried Doctor Gehrke to the turbolift followed closely by Lieutenant Uhura. Kirk sat back in his chair, considering his upcoming ship wide announcement. He'd get a status report soon enough, internal communications online or not. Chekov would have those scans analyzed and in his lap in a matter of minutes, provided everything stayed in one piece. One way or another, he'd get his answers. Then, he could prepare for when they next met this mysterious ship. _Yes,_ Kirk could feel it in his gut, _yes we will meet again._


	2. Chapter 2

Kirk put his head in his hands and rubbed his temples. They'd dodged total disaster by a hair. As far as anyone could tell, since no diagnostics could be run at this time, there was something wrong with the power. Kirk resisted the urge to giggle hysterically. _Of course there's something wrong with the power! Of course there is! This is a starship full of professionals, for goodness sakes, and we don't know much more than 'power's out'._ He took a deep breath through his nose. Letting it out slowly, he sat back up.

The Bridge was still a mess. Three consoles in total had exploded beyond use. Right away, teams from Engineering had appeared to assess and repair the damage. A passing Ensign had reported that, yes, everything was awful in Engineering, but no more awful than anywhere else. Apparently, the main issue was with communications. The turbolifts worked, the gravity was online, but no communications. Of all the problems they could have, Kirk hated this one most of all. Sure, things could be exploding on the other side of the ship, but they wouldn't know until somebody came running up the Bridge to tell about it.

He watched as his crew began tidying up. He'd already sent two more down to Sickbay. There were probably people crowding in as he sat there, but he wouldn't know how many until McCoy sent a runner.

Spock appeared at his side. The First officer's console had been destroyed before they had both arrived on the scene, so he was unhurt.

"Spock, what happened?" Kirk asked with some bitterness.

"I do not know, Captain. However, we shall soon have more information. Mister Chekov completed a level two scan before the enemy ship retreated. This should give us plenty of information about the ship, its crew, and their capabilities."

"Good to know, Spock, good to know. Do we have anyone up here who can run?"

"Captain?"

It was dark, but Kirk knew the eyebrow had gone up. "We need a runner, Spock, to carry information. I'd like to know several things. First of all: what's happening in Engineering. Secondly, I'd like a casualty report. We need somebody to run and find out all of these things while communications are still down."

"I see. If you would like, as I am currently without a proper station, I could perform this duty."

Kirk was incredulous at first, but he turned to look Spock in the eye. _He's serious._

"All right, Spock. You're it. Get me some reports."

"Yes, Captain. I will return shortly." Spock took off toward the turbolift at a fair pace. Kirk bit his lip. _Spock is going… He's taking this seriously. He is going to run. He's going to run everywhere._ The idea struck him as both hysterical and strangely obvious. _Of course he's going to run. It's only logical._

The turbolift doors whooshed shut. Kirk supposed this new development was exactly what he needed. He swiveled back around. Sulu was at his console, trying to make sense of the dim readings.

"Anything, Sulu?"

The Helmsman turned, a grim expression on his face. "Shields are at 26 percent and holding, sir. Other than that…" He raised his hands in a frustrated gesture. "We don't have much power for the phasers- most of it is being routed to life support. Mister Scott has been channeling power to the necessary systems, though."

"Really? Has someone been up here already?"

"No sir," Sulu clarified, "I've been monitoring power outputs across the ship. The weapons systems have been all but drained. Most of the power is being pumped into life support, or straight to Deck Seven. I figure that's where it's needed most, anyhow."

Kirk nodded, forgetting the gloom for a moment. "Yes. You're right, Sulu. That's some pretty quick thinking on Scotty's part." _It really is_ , Kirk reflected, _Without communications, who knows what is happening anywhere? I'd do the same if I wasn't sure about conditions ship wide. First, pump power into life support, then make sure Sickbay has everything it needs. That's where the people are going, for certain._

His thoughts returned to McCoy and Doctor Gehrke. The linguist's diagnosis hadn't sounded good, but McCoy hadn't given up yet. If anything, the Doctor was probably in surgery right now, doing everything in his power to save his patient.

True to Kirk's expectations, McCoy was doing _everything._ This included shouting.

 _"Nurse Chapel!"_ He was too busy holding down a convulsing linguist to go fetch her himself. Uhura was standing slightly behind him, her eyes wide. Ensign Domanova, Gehrke's burly assistant, was doing his level best not to be sick. But, McCoy was grateful for his help as far as keeping Gehrke still went. Domanova could hold his own.

Chapel rushed to his side with the correct prescription. She jabbed the hypo into Gehrke's arm, pulling back so McCoy could go for round two.

"Chapel, get me the dermal regenerator, a fresh batch of painkillers, and a local coagulant on the double!"

The Nurse took off running once more. McCoy got to work with what he could in the meantime.

"Take a step back, Domanova, before you faint. Uhura, listen close. See if he says anything. I'm going to try and work on this shrapnel in his side while I'm waiting."

Before he could get started, Chapel returned with his supplies. _That was fast._ She was looking frazzled, but that seemed to be the norm here-and-now. The entire Sickbay buzzed. It was truly and 'all hands on deck' situation. The wounded were coming in from just about every deck, off-duty and on. He knew Chapel had concerns beyond his beck and call. She told him so, too, before she left.

"This one's yours, Len, I've got a broken femur and two concussions on my own plate."

He grunted in affirmation and went straight back to it. They all had work to do. First things first, he'd have to take care of Gehrke's neck. McCoy snatched back his tricorder and scanned for shrapnel. None to be found, lucky thing. He'd have to start by stopping the bleeding. Grabbing a strip of sterile artificial tissue from the tub on the side table, McCoy pressed it into the side of Gehrke's neck at the cut. He grabbed the dermal regenerator with his free hand and tuned the setting with his thumb. Narrow beam on, McCoy leaned in to begin repairs on the artery. The beam passed over the artificial tissue and began sealing the wounded area with new skin. McCoy kept this up until the artery was out of danger. He stepped back, readjusted the regenerator, and flagged down an approaching nurse.

"Here. Run this for me. Quickly! I've got shrapnel to attend to." The Nurse nodded and got to work without question.

McCoy moved around to Gehrke's other side. With a flick of a scalpel, the linguist's shirt split open to reveal the oozing wounds. From the looks of things, Gehrke had taken the brunt of the explosion. He had shrapnel stuck in him from his collarbone to his hip. McCoy gestured for Domanova to take another step back. He nabbed a mask and a pair of gloves from the side table and put them on. _No good in getting' anything into these wounds. I've been exposed to a lot more than Gehrke has, what with workin' in space for so long. Best not leave anything to chance._

He began working out each piece of shrapnel. Snapping his fingers, he got Uhura to man the tricorder, searching for any miniscule piece the naked eye might miss. So far so good. McCoy was busy extracting a twisted sliver of metal when he discovered something: In addition to each of the lacerations, there was another type of damage in the wounds. Wherever there was shrapnel, he found, there were also burns. The console had exploded with enough heat for the little bits of metal to cauterize many of the cuts. Those not hot enough to burn were still nasty, just the same. McCoy had a whole host of problems on his hands.

"Done, Doctor McCoy." The Nurse with the dermal regenerator got his attention. "That's as much as can be done right now. There's too much stress on his system to continue this portion."

McCoy nodded his thanks and was about to send her on her way when he reconsidered.

'Nurse, what kinds of casualties do we have?"

"Well so far, it's mostly minor things. We're trying to find M'Benga for a surgery. Commander Scott's got lung damage from th-"

 _Lung damage? Scotty?_ "Forget that, I'm on it. Why wasn't I informed of this earlier?"

The Nurse pursed her lips, but hurried on. "I came to tell you, sir. You shoved a dermal regenerator into my hands."

McCoy let out a frustrated groan. "All right, _fine!_ I'm going to prep for surgery. M'Benga's not here yet, so we can't waste time waiting around for him. Uhura, get her up to date on Gehrke's condition. Tell her if he says _anything_ relevant. Domanova, you keep a good two steps back unless the Nurse tells you otherwise. In that case, you do exactly as she says. Am I clear?"

Domanova nodded furiously. McCoy scowled and turned on his heel. He made straight for the operating suite where he could already see a team forming. Chapel was there, as were several of her usual accomplices.

"Morris! What's the status?" McCoy grabbed a fresh mask and gloves from a nearby container. He pushed his way to Scott's bedside to get a look for himself. Scotty was looking pale already. _This is bad…_

Morris responded with alacrity. "Punctured lung, sir. Caught something in the initial blast. The Lieutenant that delivered him said he kept working despite it, and then collapsed."

"Blast it, _blast it, Scotty!_ " He howled. "You know better! You _know_!" McCoy sucked in a breath. Shouting at his patient wasn't going to help, as much as he wanted it to. _Usually, they're conscious when I work 'em over real good. Too bad none of these pig-headed workaholics listen to me._ McCoy realized that he was getting worked up. This would get him nowhere. He had a job to do. "Chapel," He returned to the problem at hand, "What've we given him already?"

Nurse Chapel, similarly garbed in operating gear, answered him. "We've given him a general painkiller and Triox. You can see the mask hook-up for yourself. The good lung can still process oxygen, but the injured one's taking on blood and fluid. We've got our work cut out for us."

"All right." McCoy addressed his team. "First things first, we take out the shrapnel. I need tricorder readings. How big and how deep. Let's get moving, people."

Across Sickbay, the _Enterprise's_ runner emerged into chaos. The moderately injured were walking, sitting, and standing in any available space. Nurses rushed back and forth with intent. Every biobed was full, and those being cleared were quickly filled. Spock managed to flag down a nurse.

"Nurse Page. I have come for a report. Where can I find Doctor McCoy, if he is not otherwise engaged?"

Page decided that she needed to keep going. She motioned for Spock to follow- walk and talk. "McCoy is otherwise engaged. He's in surgery right now, operating on Commander Scott- punctured lung. As far as updates go, I think I'm qualified for that one. We're deep in it, sir. Waist deep. All I can say is, we're thankful that the lights haven't shut off just yet. There are two surgeries in progress: one major, one past danger. Other than that, we have thirty-six assorted casualties in total since the time of the attack. We're operating with all hands, but we could use help. Not everyone's back on duty. If you could scare us up some more people, that would be great. We've got our hands full. How's that for a report?"

Spock had followed Nurse Page from one end of Sickbay to the other, taking in the scene as he did so. "That is satisfactory." He addressed the nurse. "I will attempt to locate more Medical personnel, although I do not see the logic in frightening them." He took his leave from Page and proceeded to the exit.

Logic told him that if the crewmen weren't on duty, then they would be in their quarters. With communications out, no one would be able to receive orders. Spock decided it would benefit them most if he carried the word personally. He would concentrate on Deck six to begin with, then proceed to Deck Twelve if sufficient personnel could not be located.

The turbolifts were being used by mostly Operations at this point. The traffic flow consisted of repair crews and localized runners from other departments. Spock caught the next lift and rode it up to Deck Six. He knew at least two nurses and Doctor M'Benga could be located here, provided that they were in their quarters. The emergency lighting barely lit the corridor, but Spock had no trouble finding his way.

The first door was completely without power. He could hear pounding on the other side. _Obviously, Nurse Henderson wishes to return to duty._

"Please step back from the door, Nurse. I will have it open in a moment." Spock heard the shuffling footsteps and proceeded with his plan. The door was without power, not locked, so it was a simple matter of getting it to slide. He scanned the area for a thin implement to wedge the door open with. Finding none, Spock considered a more violent approach, when he realized an alternate solution.

"If you will wait one moment, Nurse. I will return shortly." He returned to the turbolift. Spock waited for the next stop. The doors swooshed open to reveal, as he had expected, a team from Engineering on their way to make repairs. He scanned each crewman in the lift. Spotting one ensign with a toolbox, he reached forward, selected a crowbar, and departed with a "pardon me, Ensign". It was back to Henderson's room again.

Once he had pushed the doors apart with the crowbar, Spock was able to pry the rest open with his hands. Nurse Henderson was standing on the other side, hair disheveled, but otherwise unharmed.

"Are you fit for duty, Nurse?"

Henderson nodded, stepped through the open doorway, and murmured a 'thank you' to Spock before running to the turbolift. Spock, in turn, ran to the next door.

Nurse Thackery was not in his quarters. Spock found him next door, tending to a wounded ensign from the repair team.

"Ah. Mister Spock, sir." Thackery greeted the First Officer, and then continued with his patient.

"What seems to be the problem, Nurse?"

Thackery tied off a bandage on the Ensign's leg and looked back up. "Just a little burn. Her supervisor sent her here from the impulse engines. Messy business over there."

Spock nodded. "When you are finished, Nurse, you are needed in Sickbay."

Thackery looked surprised, but not for the reason Spock had expected. "They sent you down here for that?" He asked, incredulously.

"On the contrary, Nurse, I am here as a part of my temporary posting as a 'runner'. The Captain gave me this assignment to facilitate communication with the Bridge."

Thackery looked like he wanted to say something, but wisely kept his mouth shut. Once he had finished with the Ensign, he too ran for the turbolift.

Spock's last stop on this deck was Doctor M'Benga's quarters. He reached the room approximately two thirds of the way down the corridor. Spock pressed the chime. Nothing. He tried again, this time adding "Doctor M'Benga, are you there?" No response. As the door did not appear to be powered down, Spock used his override code to gain access. It was almost totally dark inside. Doctor M'Benga did not seem to be home.

Spock was about to leave for Deck Twelve when he heard something. There was a small shuffling noise emanating from the side of the room. Cautiously, Spock approached. As he became accustomed to the darkness, he could see shapes more clearly. He spotted something- an outline- next to the bed.

"Doctor M'Benga?"

A groan. Spock dropped to the doctor's side, for a moment unsure how to proceed. He located the doctor's arm and tried to assess M'Benga's position. The surgeon had fallen awkwardly between the side of the bed and the wall. Spock considered his options. He had sent Thackery and Henderson away, so there were no medical personnel on this deck, and Sickbay could not afford to send anyone. _It is likely that there will not be crewmen to spare. I shall have to handle this situation myself._ Deciding on the most logical course, Spock worked to move M'Benga into the open. He grabbed M'Benga's ankles and pulled.

Fortunately for Spock, the movement was enough to wake the doctor. He groaned again, moving slightly but on his own power.

"What… Lights, 80 percent. Lights… Is the power out? Who's there?"

"It is only I, Spock, Doctor. Are you able to determine the extent of your injuries?"

M'Benga sat up and rubbed the back of his head. "I don't think I'm very much injured, Mister Spock. I remember coming off duty, going to sleep, and now, waking up on the floor. What happened? Why is the power out?"

Spock endeavored to explain the situation in a calm and logical manner. When he reached the part about the severe understaffing in Sickbay, M'Benga reacted in a decidedly agitated manner.

"I have to get down there right away." He stood, leaning on a chair for support.

"Do you require assistance, Doctor?"

M'Benga considered. "I don't think so, but if it's all the same to you, I'd like to make sure I at least made it to Sickbay this time."

Spock nodded but refrained from comment. M'Benga was able to walk to the turbolift, proceed to Sickbay, and check in with Nurse Page without incident. Spock was somewhat pleased to find the main rooms considerably less crowded than they had been.

There was some commotion in the other room. Spock turned towards the door, seeking more information for his report to the Captain. The cause of the noise, although not at all surprising, turned out to be Doctor McCoy who was stepping out of the operating suite.

"And don't let him outta that bed until I give the order or, so help me, a punctured lung is gonna be the _least_ of his problems!"

In his endeavors at analyzing human behavior, Spock had become familiar with Doctor McCoy's various outbursts. Privately, he would often gauge the Doctor's temperament on a scale of his own creation- three being the height of outrage, one being general discontent.

This was likely a 2.63.

Spock was directly in the Doctor's path and might very well experience the fallout. He steeled himself for an unpleasant conversation.

"And another thing- has anyone figured out where the Sam Hill M'Benga's at? If he can't- Spock! What the blazes are you doin' down here? Don't tell me you've gone an' done somethin' to get yourself-"

"Negative, Doctor. I have come to assess the situation here, as well as the conditions in Engineering. As the Captain said, I am a runner."

Unexpectedly, McCoy seemed to calm.

"Oh. 'S that all? Well, you can tell Jim that we're still afloat down here. Though, I'd rather we were at Starbase 38. At least we'd have stable conditions for Doctor Gehrke and Scotty. The fool went an' kept working with a punctured lung… He's gonna make a full recovery, due in no small part to yours truly- you remind him that, next time he starts thinking of doin' somethin' idiotic."

Spock remained expressionless. "I will endeavor to do so, Doctor."

Whether it was because of his full workload or general apathy at the moment, McCoy only glared. "Good. Tell Jim 'Hey' for me, will ya?" Without waiting for a response, the Doctor left to tend to the injured. Spock remained, pondering.

Often, the Doctor's emotionalism 'offended his Vulcan sensibilities' as McCoy himself would put it. True, McCoy could be professional when the occasion suited, but often the crew was left to face an irate and cantankerous physician with a 'my way or the highway' outlook on medicine. It was not a confrontation that Spock took much pleasure in. They had a strained professional relationship, yet there was an understanding. Despite their differences, Spock and McCoy always agreed to do the best for the ship, even if they didn't agree what that best was. Spock knew that McCoy had the ship's welfare on his mind. He supposed that was the important thing. _If the Doctor is doing his job satisfactorily, I believe the rest of his behaviors can be tolerated… to an extent._

He had been dismissed. That meant it was time to run back up to the Bridge. Before visiting Sickbay, Spock had run to Decks Fourteen, Thirteen, Eleven, and Ten to check up on ship's systems. As of yet, there was nothing new to report. With Commander Scott temporarily out of commission, the cause of the power failure had not been located.

 _This is a development that the Captain needs to be made aware of._ Spock took off for the turbolift. _If he has not already been informed about Scott's condition, then he will find that the information clarifies our difficulties considerably._ The turbolifts were still packed with repair crews. Spock waited out the five other stops before stepping out onto the Bridge.

The sight that met him was not similar to what he had left. The Captain's chair was empty, and the upper level was crowded with redshirts, each performing the required repairs on his and Lieutenant Uhura's consoles. Fewer technicians occupied the lower level. Ensign Chekov was compiling the results of his scans. By appearances, Spock could deduce that he was nearly finished. Lieutenant Sulu was diligently guiding the _Enterprise_ toward Starbase 38.

The most surprising development was the Captain's relocation to the floor in front of the viewscreen. He was ringed in by PADDs, which were scattered aimlessly on the floor around him. Spock caught his eye and the Captain motioned him over.

"If it isn't my runner, returned at last! 'The faithful ambassador is health', so they say. What've you got for me, Spock?"

Spock stood at attention, hands clasped behind his back. He noticed the change in his Captain's mood and wondered if it had anything to do with his array of PADDs. _Perhaps others have been bringing in reports as well,_ He considered, _If so, much of my report may be redundant. However, it is useless to hypothesize without data. I will disclose fully my findings._

"Captain, here is my report. From Engineering, no cause for the power failure has yet been established. Lieutenants DeSalle and Kyle have called for secondary scans throughout the dilithium control station and Engineering Support. Sickbay reports thirty-six casualties, two of which are surgery cases, and possible injuries yet unaccounted for. One of the surgery cases is Commander Scott, who is expected to make a full recovery."

In the middle of Spock's report, Kirk let his PADD sink to his lap. He listened attentively, letting Spock complete his statement before posing questions.

"What happened to Scotty, that is, if you know the details…?"

"I believe he sustained a shrapnel injury that resulted in a punctured lung. Mister Scott continued to perform his duties until he collapsed in Engineering."

Kirk frowned and let out a breath. "He shouldn't do that."

Spock inclined his head. "I believe Doctor McCoy expressed the same sentiment, although he expressed it using more lengthy and colorful language."

"I bet he did." Kirk snorted. "What else from Bones? Did he say anything about Doctor Gehrke?"

Spock thought for a moment, trying to recall anything he might have heard on the subject of the linguist. "I have not received an update to Doctor Gehrke's condition. Doctor McCoy also instructed me to 'say "Hey" to you'. This was his only report."

Kirk chuckled, although Spock did not find McCoy's colloquialisms very amusing. The Captain smiled and gestured for Spock to join him on the floor.

"We've got some reports to sort through. You haven't been the only one running around the ship delivering news. That stack over there is Engineering updates," He indicated a loose assortment of PADDs to his left, near Spock's knee. "And these here are from the lower decks, shuttlebay, and the cargo bay. That over there is the lone-wolf Sickbay report. I think it's from Chapel. I doubt Bones is in any mood to write up a report just now."

Spock selected the first PADD off of the Engineering stack. It opened with a report of Commander Scott's injury and subsequent change in command. He had his own opinion about the author of Sickbay's report, having seen Nurse Page punching information into a PADD earlier, but he agreed with his Captain that it certainly wasn't McCoy's. However, most of his attention was focused on the PADD at hand.

Kirk had gone fishing in the stack of lower deck reports, searching for a particular heading. He had a hunch about something, but hadn't seen anything to back it up so far. _Who was it that said 'Intuition is the messenger of opportunity'? If I've got an opportunity to kill this problem at the source, then I'll take it._ He glanced over at his First Officer who was busy pouring over a new Engineering report. _I'm glad I've got Spock on this. He'll pick out the needle in the haystack long before I've tracked down my hunch._

He dove back into the reports with new energy. Most of them were the same things: power failure, short circuit, and electrical damage. Kirk read on. One of these reports was bound to return something useful. He supposed that while Scotty was out of commission, the rest of the ship sure wasn't. _One man doesn't run a kingdom. Scotty's a genius, but he's got a whole bunch of bright bulbs hanging around, too._ Kirk tried to keep a rein on his frustration. _Any minute now. Any minute. Hello. Deck Fourteen- Unexplained chemical damage to the starboard airlock door. That is highly unusual._

"Spock…" At Kirk's call, the First Officer looked up from his reading.

"Yes, Captain?"

"What did they have to say on Deck Fourteen? Anything interesting?"

Spock considered for a moment. "Not anything unusual, Captain. The crewmen advised me to continue on, as they were having trouble keeping even the emergency lights on in several sections."

Kirk snapped his fingers. "That's it! Deck Fourteen's primarily power and utilities distribution! Here, take a look at this." He passed the PADD over to Spock. It was scanned, analyzed, and retuned in a moment.

"That is highly irregular, Captain. The cause must be investigated at once."

"You're right, Spock." Kirk nodded, mulling the whole mess over in his head. "You're right, but it's going to have to wait. We'll have to park it at Starbase 38 before we can do a thing. Mister Sulu, Mister Chekov!"

Though Kirk was in an undignified position on the floor, both men sat at attention.

"Yes, Captain." Sulu responded.

"Do we have an ETA yet for Starbase 38?"

This time, Chekov answered. "Estimates at six hours until we reach the Starbase, sir."

"Thank you, gentlemen. Carry on." Kirk looked back at his reports. He had a strange expression on his face. Spock, truly not a master of human behavioral patterns, was forced to inquire further.

"Captain?"

"Six hours, Spock." Kirk looked up at him, and Spock could now identify the emotion hiding behind his Captain's mask of calm: unease. Kirk continued, "Six hours, and we'll have our answer. That being said, six hours is an awfully long time on impulse. We could have a whole host of problems pop up. Anything could appear."

"Or any _one_ , Captain." Spock added.

"You're right, Spock. Or anyone."


	3. Chapter 3

Nurse Chapel kicked her feet up on her boss' desk. McCoy wasn't in, only a patient on the couch who's scratched cornea treatment made him too dizzy to stand. Lieutenant Brazos had a bandage and a cold pack to ease his suffering. _That,_ Chapel smirked, _and a double dose of the good stuff. If it'd been anything other than metal shavings, I'd say only one dose but…_

Brazos shifted in his uneasy state. Chapel picked up her coffee off the desk. Captain Kirk wasn't the only one who went through pots of coffee like they were command tunics. Being McCoy's Head Nurse came with as many perks as it did drawbacks, Chapel decided. The stress, she figured, was only increased because they were on the flagship. On the other hand, they were going new places and seeing things they'd never dreamed were possible. She'd come into this job hoping to find her fiancée, but that hadn't panned out. Chapel thought, 'Forget it' and was now sitting pretty with an impressive career.

The coffee was cooling quickly. It'd been hot when she'd come into the office looking for somewhere to set Brazos down. _If McCoy's away,_ She'd thought at the time, _then the patient will stay._ The couch in here was better than the floor outside. McCoy wouldn't mind since he was so far from using it. When she'd stepped out to take five and get the Lieutenant settled, the CMO was buzzing from biobed to biobed like a cantankerous bee. He was taking his time with each patient. Everybody got a once-over courtesy of McCoy or they didn't walk out. Not on his watch.

Chapel was expectedly surprised when the office doors swished open a few minutes later. McCoy entered, carrying a tricorder, but he stopped a few steps in the door. Nurse Chapel hadn't thought to take her feet off the desk, and Lieutenant Brazos couldn't see anything anyhow.

"Hmph." McCoy scowled, snapping his fingers at Chapel's misbehaving boots. She sighed, dropping her feet to the floor. "Least you could'a done was told me you'd been movin' patients in here," her boss drawled as he rounded the desk, "Then I'd'a taken my coffee break somewhere quiet, like the left nacelle." He reached for the bottom drawer, the one Chapel knew housed the hard stuff. She placed a delicate toe on the handle, stopping any attempts at pre-landing debauchery.

"Nuh-uh, sir." Chapel gave him a wry look. "We're landing in about three hours. Can't have you three sheets to the wind when we'll have a patient to transport."

The CMO directed an exasperated grunt at his Head Nurse. "Chapel, I don't know whether you're gonna be the death of me, or my savin' grace." His eyes drifted back up to the desktop. "Is that… coffee, Nurse?"

Chapel could see the sudden shift in her boss' body language. His shoulders straightened, his eyes brightened; essentially his whole being lit up at the prospect of coffee. If that wasn't a testament to his mood, Chapel didn't know what was.

"There was a fresh pot about fifteen minutes ago, as far as I know. I don't know how many of ours have taken advantage. I've been in here getting the Lieutenant settled and taking my ten." Somewhere in the middle of her speech, McCoy stopped listening. He stood back up, eyes glazed but directed at the doorway.

"Uh-huh. Sure. Good work, Nurse. I'll be… getting back to it then…" McCoy took normal steps all the way to the door, but Chapel caught the tail-end of his hustle before he disappeared completely. She sighed and sipped at the last of her own pick-me-up. There were still several reports to file: the broken femur, two concussions, and the write up for both Commander Scott's and Doctor Gehrke's surgeries as she had attended somewhat to both. Resigned to her task, she knocked back the remaining coffee and vacated McCoy's office.

PADD in hand, Chapel made a round of the Sickbay to make sure everything was in order. All remaining patients had been assigned to a biobed, and the rest of the temporary cases were being assisted on gurneys. The Head Nurse stopped by every conscious patient to talk. She also checked the vitals of everybody still out. After the main floor had been scrutinized, she moved to the back rooms. She knew she'd find only two patients back there: Doctor Gehrke and Commander Scott.

Although the back rooms hosted six biobeds each, this one was only utilized for recovering surgery and/or transfusion patients. The risks associated with infection were too high to mix in any additional patients from the main ward, regardless of how desperate Sickbay was for space. If there were any surgery patients, they'd get the room to themselves, guaranteed.

She found it just as she'd expected. Almost. Chapel walked into the room, looking up to see one nurse, two patients, and-

"Nyota!"

"Chris!" The Communications Officer stood as Chapel approached. "I thought you'd be too busy out there. Is anything wrong?"

"No, Nyota. I was just doing a round. I didn't expect to see you here, though. Did McCoy send you in?"

Uhura nodded, gesturing with one hand at the unconscious linguist. "I'm here to keep an eye on Doctor Gehrke, or more like keep an ear on him. Doctor McCoy wants to know if he says anything in any language other than Standard. If he has any problems and expresses them in German…" She shrugged. "I guess I'll have to let you know."

Chapel saw the logic in this, but noticed something else. "So, you're all alone in here, with Commander Scott sedated, Doctor Gehrke unconscious, and Domanova MIA?"

Uhura gave her a small smile. "Ensign Domanova isn't missing, he's been 'relocated' to the hallway. Couldn't take all the tension of surgery, I suppose. But, it's not so bad since I brought my PADD with me from the Bridge. I've finished all of my reports, though. It's been a little slow for the past half-hour."

The Head Nurse nodded, taking inventory of the room. The other nurse had come and gone, leaving the two of them with the surgery patients. Until McCoy said otherwise, which could be any length of time considering how scatterbrained he'd been earlier, Uhura was stuck in here at Gehrke's side. _That's not quite fair,_ Chapel considered, _Even though it makes sense. Having Nyota in here is the best idea Len's had all day. Keeping her in here with nothing to do but listen to Scott's wheezing… Well, everyone's essentially been taken care of. It won't hurt if I make additional notes on the surgeries…_

"Tell you what, Nyota," Chapel started, "I have to make notes for each patient regarding their care and progress. Seeing as how these two surgeries were trickier than your average scraped elbow, I suppose it would be a good idea to watch them a little more closely. What do you think?"

Uhura smiled, eyes twinkling at Nurse Chapel's thinly veiled excuse to sit around for a while. "I think you're onto something, Nurse."

Chapel grinned back and pulled up a chair between Gehrke and Scott's beds. She finished the last sentence of general patient notes and opened the file on Commander Scott. McCoy had written up a general description of the injury and subsequent surgery as impartially as he had been able to. She could sense his frustration behind the mentions of 'delayed treatment', 'negligence', and a particularly salty 'disregard for basic safety protocol'. _Boy, is Scotty going to be in for it when he wakes up._

"So, Chris," Uhura began, "What do you think about all of this? We don't know who fired on the ship. I was on the Bridge when it happened and let me tell you: that ship was unlike anything I've ever seen! You remember the Demerons?"

"The same Demerons who thought they'd be able to take you, me, and Palmer in hand-to-hand?"

"The same."

"Well, what about those idiots? I don't see how that tin can full of half-developed sea cucumbers compares to the ship that could disable the _Enterprise_ in a matter of minutes."

"Seconds, Chris." Uhura corrected. "True, the Demerons were collectively as bright as a black hole. I didn't mean they were similar like that. I just remembered the static I was able to pick up before my console started sparking and Gehrke…" She paused, sparing a glance at the linguist. "It was almost like the Demerons' first message- the one before we ran their language through the Universal Translator. Only, we know the Demerons communicate through various wave frequencies kind of like music. This ship had a… Well, there was something about it that struck me as familiar."

Chapel set her PADD down. "Any idea what it was?"

"No, none." Uhura shook her head. "I just can't place it. It's pretty frustrating, Chris."

"Well," Chapel kicked her feet up on the hard edge of Scotty's biobed. Nobody could tell her no. "Since your console's blown and McCoy probably won't come back around for another half-hour at least, by my estimate… How about you tell me about it? I don't know much about wave frequencies, but I could probably be a decent sounding board." She smiled. "I can nod my head and make encouraging noises at least."

The offer broke Uhura's melancholy mood. "That's a wonderful idea, Chris. Even if we can't figure it out, I'll at least have the chance to organize some of my ideas." The Communications Officer smiled. "Who knows? We might make a breakthrough."

"I'm all ears, Nyota. Tell me about this frequency."

Uhura settled back and crossed her arms. "It's not a frequency how you would normally think of it. It was a… It was like a textured buzzing sound, if you get my meaning. There were several sounds, some repeating in a pattern. Most of these were vibrations."

"What kind of vibrations? Like different pitches?"

"Yes, that, but something else too. There were some of the same pitches that sounded different. It's that texture. I can't explain it. The sound wasn't the same as some of the others and I don't know why."

Chapel pushed off of Scotty's bedside with her heels. Uhura was onto something. She could just tell. _That's what I love about Nyota. She doesn't give up easily, if ever. I'd bet money that she could crack this, given enough time and maybe some more data. Is there any more? I wonder what the computers could record before everything got fried._ She put her question to words. That got Uhura thinking some more.

"I don't know. If the computer recorded something useful, we'd still have to wait until the repairs are finished. I know Chekov did a level 2 scan on the ship. Maybe with his reports and the rest of the data from the computers, we can put something together."

"Sounds like a plan." Chapel dropped her feet to the floor. She'd heard footsteps outside and decided it was about time that she got to work. _Or at least, pretend like I'm working. Maybe work a little. I still have to finish both Gehrke and Scotty's preliminaries._ She retrieved her PADD and got up to check Scotty's vitals. Uhura responded to Chapel's action and made to look natural for their visitor. She began skimming lines of nothing on her own PADD just as Doctor McCoy graced them with his presence.

The Doctor looked much less miserable than before. He had the appearance of a man who had just finished his coffee- one, maybe two cups. There was a significant spring in his step as he made his way to Doctor Gehrke's bedside. He even went so far as to smile at Uhura as he stopped to check on the linguist.

"Any word?"

Uhura shook her head. "No, Doctor. He's completely out and hasn't shown any signs of waking."

McCoy pursed his lips and bobbed back on his heels. "That's to be expected, I guess. Gehrke's probably aiming to get his money's worth outta those sedatives. I'd want to stay out too if I had shrapnel wounds that made me look like Swiss cheese." He stepped closer to the bedside, leaning in to get a look at Gehrke's healing neck wound. "Dermal regenerator seems to have done its job. He'll be back with us later this afternoon. I suspect Starbase 38 will want us to transfer him over straight away." McCoy straightened up and addressed Nurse Chapel. "How's our problem case, Nurse?"

Chapel fought the urge to roll her eyes. "You can chew him out when he wakes up. I don't know why you and M'Benga agreed on such a heavy dose in the first place. What're you trying to do, prolong his stay by any means necessary?"

"Now see here! I'm a doctor, not a warden. I'll keep Scotty here until he's recovered to my satisfaction, then I'll turn him loose with a warning strong enough to be heeded from here to Vulcan! Besides, a little extra rest never hurt anybody."

Uhura buried her nose in her PADD to keep from laughing. McCoy had a reputation for keeping his patients until the last possible second. He'd always go for the maximum prescription that medical override would allow, even going so far as trying to wrestle one James T Kirk back into a biobed. Of course, no one talked about how poorly that had gone in front of the Captain. Most of the crew held the opinion that McCoy was more than a little vengeful, and that he'd keep patients on longer if they ticked him off. Uhura had a different opinion.

The Doctor McCoy she knew fussed over his patients for an entirely different reason. He was a physician with a bleeding heart. She knew that McCoy cared deeply for everyone in his Sickbay, from the Captain to the lowest yeoman. Part of his hostage-taking tendency came from the desire to ensure that, yes; the patient in question was fully recovered. Through her conversations with Chapel and her own personal experience, she figured that there was another reason behind McCoy's unwillingness to let them go. The Doctor was always the loudest opponent to dangerous away missions, high-risk plans, and hazardous maneuvers. Uhura supposed McCoy, in his own way, was trying to protect his recently injured. After all, if they were stuck in Sickbay, what trouble could they possibly get into?

McCoy was moving around again. He decided that he'd check in on Scotty himself while Chapel went to file her report. Uhura decided she'd do some research into alien speech that involved simple vibration as primary means of communication. She knew her way around the dynamics of vocal chords just fine, but this was an altogether different thing. There was something intriguing about this new sound, and she was going to get to the bottom of it. Uhura was just settling back down into her chair when she heard something unexpected.

"You idiot."

She kept typing away, pretending she hadn't heard. Likely, McCoy hadn't realized he'd said anything aloud. He was adjusting the monitors on Scotty's biobed. At some point, the same train of through must have come back around. _He can't get over this_ , Uhura realized as she put energy into her act, _and he won't stop worrying until Scotty wakes up._

The Doctor was idling, now, and Uhura decided she'd had enough of his worrying.

"Doctor McCoy?"

His head snapped up. "Yes, Lieutenant?"

She put on an easy smile. "Nothing much, sir, I was just wondering if there was anything you'd like for me to do. I won't have much on my plate until my console on the Bridge is repaired. If there's anything I can help you do, I'd love to lend a hand."

She watched as some of the tension seeped out of McCoy's shoulders. _Good. Play your cards right, Nyota, and you'll have him back to his chipper, post-coffee self in no time._

"I don't have much, to be honest." McCoy shifted his weight and gave his attention back to the biobeds. Uhura thought she was going to lose him, when he looked over again. "I would appreciate it if you could stay here and keep an eye on Doctor Gehrke. I know it gets awful lonely back here… Tell you what. How's about I go grab a couple of PADDs from my office and I'll sit in with you. That way, if Gehrke does have any complications, we'll have somebody to translate and somebody to operate." A smile creased his face at the small joke. Uhura couldn't help but chuckle.

"That sounds just fine, Doctor. I'll let you know if anything happens before you get back." McCoy nodded and started for the door. "Oh, and Doctor?" He turned, raising an eyebrow. Uhura grinned. "How about a cup of coffee? One for each of us, maybe?" The Doctor nodded slightly and left. She sat back and sighed. Not exactly the result she'd hoped for, but at least it'd pulled McCoy from his fog. _I guess that confirms something else, too. I'll be here with Gehrke for the remainder of his stay. Doctor McCoy seemed firm on that, if nothing else._

She thought about kicking her feet up on the bedside as Chapel had, but decided against it. Coffee with McCoy wasn't so bad. Uhura could think of quite a few places that would be worse.

Captain Kirk's command center remained on the floor. _Honestly,_ he thought, _It's the most efficient way. Each runner can come and deliver their reports to an accessible, out of the way space with ease. Nobody stalls the repair work on the upper level, and I can organize all of this information to my liking._

He took another PADD from the Engineering runner. This one was delivering reports from the lower decks. According to these, the flooding in the cargo bays had been nearly contained and the crewmen trapped in the Rec rooms had been released. _Things are finally looking up,_ Kirk supposed, _with the extra people from the Rec rooms back on duty, we might be able to get things back up and running._

He glanced to his left, where his First Officer and Navigator were pouring over the scan results. Ensign Chekov watched the data over Spock's shoulder and interjected relevant details whenever necessary. Spock would nod once, or make his own observations. This had been going on for a little while. Kirk supposed that the data must require a good deal of shifting through, or else, they'd have reported something. _Any minute now, they'll have something. The answer's right there in Spock's hands._

He thought back to the battle. True, the ship had been completely alien, but there had to be something from the scan they could use. _It used technology that was completely unfamiliar._ Kirk pondered the design, _A sphere suspended in what appeared to be some type of arc-generator. From the brief look we did get of them, even I could tell that they operated within a sort of electrical field. Maybe there's another connection, and we're going about this all wrong._ He decided that he'd contact Deck Fourteen about the power loss. As internal communications were still offline…

Kirk stretched his back. They'd been here on the floor while waiting for everything to settle down on the upper level. It had been too long.

"Spock."

Both his First Officer and Navigator looked up.

"Yes, Captain?"

"I'm going down to Deck Fourteen. I've got a hunch and I'd like to check it out."

Chekov's brow creased. "Deck Fourteen, sir? Most, if not all, of the power is out on that deck. You wouldn't be able to 'check' much out in those conditions."

Kirk stood. He surveyed the Bridge, dimly illuminated by the emergency lights. "I'll be about as helpful as I am up here. There's something else going on, and I'm going to find out what." With that, he nodded and made for the turbolift. The hustle and bustle had slowed a bit, but the Bridge was by no means at peace. _Neither am I,_ Kirk reflected, _not until I can solve this mystery._

"Deck Fourteen."

The ride was eerie, as he made it alone. The turbolift rotation in this crisis had consisted of crews from below going above, not so much vice-versa. In addition to the pattern of movement, many of the crews needed to fix the ship had already been deployed. He supposed nearly everyone who would work today was already working.

On his arrival, Kirk discovered several things. First off: he found he would never complain about the emergency lights ever again. It was pitch dark on Deck Fourteen. Only the glow from the turbolift provided any illumination, and that minimally.

There was a spark somewhere up ahead. For an instant, Kirk could see the kind of damage that had been done. The corridor seemed darker than it should be, with wiring peeking out from charred holes in the walls. There was some sort of fluid pooled in spots on the floor. The spark jumped again, and Kirk charted a path around the puddles.

He took a step into the dark. There weren't many sounds down here, and he kept his eyes on the floor. One wrong step could, in theory, get him electrocuted. He wasn't about to take that chance. Utilities Distribution was in the middle of the deck. That's where his feet were trying to take him.

Luckily for the Captain, his crew didn't take a day off, pitch darkness or no. A literal light appeared the end of this murky tunnel. Kirk recognized the emergency beam from a tricorder and waved at the approaching crewman.

"Captain?"

Kirk blinked against the growing beam and the crewman lowered the tricorder quickly.

"I'm sorry, sir. Can't see too far down here."

The Captain squinted in the low lighting. He still couldn't make out the figure behind the tricorder beyond an Ensign's stripes on a red shirt. Best take this shot in the dark.

"I understand completely, Ensign…?" He put a hand to his face to help make his point. The tricorder dropped further.

"Ensign Watrous reporting, sir. Do you have any new orders? Things have been pretty rough since Commander Scott left…"

Kirk tried to put the Ensign at ease with a grin. "As a matter of fact, I came down to see things for myself. We're not far off from Starbase 38, but when you have a hunch…Well, why don't you show me what's wrong with the power, or at least, as close as you've been able to discover?"

Watrous nodded and gestured with the tricorder. "Yes sir, right away sir. If you'll follow me please." The Ensign started off down the hallway. "The main problem is in Utilities distribution. We've located the source of the trouble, but we can't get to it. There's a whole area on the hull that's almost… Well, it's charred, sir. It's burnt and covered in some sort of fluid. Just between you and me, I've been calling it 'The Goo', but that's hardly report-ready material."

Kirk found himself grinning at the Ensign's easy manner- professional, yet open and friendly. _Watrous seems to be the optimist,_ Kirk mused, _calm in a crisis and clear-headed._ They continued down the corridor for a little longer, Watrous pointing out potential pitfalls with the tricorder, and Kirk trying to follow close behind.

Eventually, the pair came to Utilities Distribution. The light from the tricorder told Kirk everything he needed to know, and his gut confirmed it. _This is the place,_ he realized.

"Here's the main problem, as far as I can tell." Watrous began, "I've been working on my own in this area, since the others assigned to this deck have either been injured, called up for repair work, or are holed up on the central assembly trying to keep Sickbay and the turbolifts online."

Kirk followed along, but soon found his thoughts wandering. He studied the bulkhead in question. True to Watrous' word, a large portion of the wall had been blackened. Kirk pondered the kind of energy needed to make such a large and distinctive burn. The charred metal was rippled slightly, with shining spots clustered toward the epicenter of the burn. From Kirk's perspective, the damage seemed electrical in nature, looking very much like the black spread on a blown fuse. _Only, this is gigantic in scale. What could have caused damage like this? It would take a tremendous surge of electrical energy-_

It clicked.

"Ensign!" Kirk grabbed Watrous' arm and spun the engineer to face him. "I know what caused this! The ship- the other ship, the one that attacked us- had some sort of… arc that shot bursts of electrical energy to and from the main body of the ship. When they fired on us, whatever they fired must have had the same sort of power… It makes sense to say that if their ship is run on this peculiar type of energy, then so are their weapons. If they have a higher mastery of electricity, then there's no telling what kind of havoc they could wreak on a ship's systems- on a ship's _power systems!"_

Watrous' jaw dropped, mouth forming a perfect 'O'. "Captain, that's brilliant! Of course… Of course!" The Ensign detached from Kirk's grip. The tricorder was up and whirring over the surface of the burn. "I'd never thought to analyze it that way. Usually, weapons damage falls into either the 'phaser' or 'torpedo' category… Nobody down here saw that ship, so it stands to reason why we hadn't made the connection until now. All the same, Captain, I feel pretty foolish for not having recognized it earlier."

Kirk grinned. He was elated, both that they had discovered the culprit, and that they had somewhere to work from. "No reason to feel bad, Ensign. I had to come down and see the damage for myself before I put two and two together. Anyway, we've got something to go off of now. What are your readings like now?"

The tricorder bobbed, and Kirk could see the outline of Watrous' face in the low light. The Ensign studied the readings for a moment, and then frowned. _Oh no._ Kirk waited for the news. _I have a feeling it won't be good._

"Captain… I… There's a _perforation in the hull_. Something else, too, it looks like the goo is coating the outside of this bulkhead. Captain, the holes are-"

Watrous didn't have time to finish. Kirk grabbed the Ensign's arm and began racing back toward the turbolifts. He stopped at the nearest wall comm and tried to open a ship wide channel. When the comm didn't so much as produce static, he remembered.

"No! Not now!" Kirk whirled. "Ensign! Get yourself to Sickbay on the double! Report to Doctor McCoy. That's an order."

"S-sickbay?" Watrous noted the look in Kirk's eyes. There would be no argument. "Yes sir. Right away, sir."

The Ensign began running for the turbolift. Kirk had a job to do. With communications still down, he would have to manually evacuate the deck. The sprint down the corridor was difficult in the dark. He hadn't thought to take the tricorder from Watrous before sending the Ensign to Sickbay. It didn't matter much, now. He had to clear the deck.

Whatever weapon had made the electrical burn on the bulkhead had also deposited a fair amount of 'That Goo' on the outer side of the hull. In addition, the burn had been deep enough to actually put holes in the metal. This goo had apparently maintained a pressure seal, but Kirk didn't trust it with an inch. He didn't know how long the seal would hold, or if the goo had any other dangerous properties. As soon as he'd cleared Deck Fourteen, he'd send a runner to Main Engineering. They'd get Fourteen sealed off and issue a quarantine. No one would go in, or anywhere near, the area of damage without at least an EV suit.

The Captain arrived at the central assembly. There were about fifteen crewmen there, all working by tricorder-light.

"Attention!" Kirk shouted. To their credit, all of the crewmen responded immediately. Once they'd settled, Kirk continued. "We need to evacuate this deck. Is anyone else, other than Ensign Watrous who has already been evacuated, working on this deck?"

A lieutenant piped up. "No, sir! We're the only ones on this deck."

"And you're sure, lieutenant?"

"Absolutely, sir. I made the round myself not ten minutes ago."

Kirk nodded. "Good. We're getting out of here right away. There's significant hull damage here and I'm ordering everyone out. Make for the turbolifts- don't stop."

At once, the whole of the central assembly crew formed up and filed out. Kirk took up the rear, making sure no one was lost in the rush. None of the engineers met with trouble in the corridor, and they all arrived at the turbolift safely.

"Alright," Kirk began. "Eight of you go now, the rest will come in the next lift with me. Report to Sickbay. Hop to it."

Eight crewmen broke off and entered the turbolift. Kirk boarded with the next group, taking his party all the way up to Deck Seven.

"Here we are." He called over his shoulder as he exited. "If you'll all come with me. You may need to get checked out, just to be safe. Ensign Watrous discovered an alien substance that could be dangerous…"

They followed along as a group. Kirk led the party to Sickbay, expecting crowded spaces and silence. Sure, the main ward was packed with recovering crewmen, but he could hear raised voices coming from one of the back rooms.

Nurse Chapel appeared on the other end of the Sickbay. She had equipment in her hands and no time to stop and chat. Ensign Domanova, Gehrke's assistant, followed close behind the Head Nurse. Spock brought up the rear.

"Spock!" Kirk called, jogging to intercept his First Officer. "What's going on down here?"

"Captain." Spock stood at attention. "We have arrived at Starbase 38. Mister Sulu is preparing the orbit as we speak. I made the journey down to Sickbay to inform Doctor McCoy of this event and discovered this state of crisis."

"We're there already?" Kirk asked, amazed. "That's great news! But what's going on down here? What's all that shouting?"

Spock glanced at the closed doors to the recovery room. "I do not know, yet, but I believe the answer lies in the recovery ward."

"Good thinking, Spock. Let's go see for ourselves."

What they found in the recovery ward wasn't reassuring. Something was happening to Doctor Gehrke. The linguist was convulsing, and from the looks of things, it wasn't going to go smoothly. Doctor McCoy was biting his tongue, likely to keep from swearing a blue streak. He was concentrating on keeping his patient still while simultaneously preparing a hypospray. The Doctor looked up as Chapel came running in again. He made eye contact with Kirk.

"Jim!" McCoy shouted. "I've got my hands full here! We've got to get him to the Starbase, quick! The lights've started flickerin' in here and we need a reliable source of power to keep Gehrke stabilized!"

"Good thing we just arrived, Bones. Get him on a gurney and we can transport over."

"But Jim! Communications are down! How'll we let the Starbase know we're plannin' on transportin'?"

Doctor McCoy raised a good point. They hadn't brought the communications back up just yet, and might not be able to for some time. Starbase 38 wouldn't lower their shields for transport unless they knew exactly who and/or what was getting beamed down.

"I guess we'll have to load a shuttle. Get you and yours ready, Bones. Spock, meet us in the Shuttlebay with that Security Team. I'll get the shuttle prepped for takeoff."

McCoy nodded at the Captain and started giving his own orders. "Chapel, get the gurney. Uhura, you're coming with us. Sorry about all this shufflin' about, darlin'. If there was any other way…"

Uhura, aware of how delicate the situation was, simply nodded and stood alongside the biobed.

"Great." McCoy finished. "Alright, everyone. Gurney's here. Domanova, give me a hand."

They transferred Gehrke to the gurney without much trouble. Now, for the hard part. It would be a dead sprint from Sickbay to the turbolift, the turbolift to the shuttle, and then… McCoy only hoped that they'd be able to keep Gehrke stable. It would be one heck of a ride.


	4. Chapter 4

It was the fastest, most unpleasant shuttle ride she'd ever been part of. Lieutenant Uhura gripped the armrests and held on for all she was worth. When the Captain was in a hurry, well, he had a one-track mind.

"Jim! Cut that out! I've got to stabilize Gehrke, and it ain't gonna happen with you buckin' the shuttle like a hyper-active bronco!"

Apparently, Doctor McCoy was the same.

"Bones," The Captain yelled from the pilot's chair, "You worry about Gehrke, and _I'll_ worry about the shuttle!" Uhura heard some additional muttering from the front, but nothing loud enough to distinguish. _Well, 'nothing' isn't very accurate. I didn't know the Captain was so… proficient in Klingon…_

Uhura turned to check on the situation in the back. While McCoy had whipped the impromptu medical team into action, the Captain and Mister Spock had readied the shuttle. This included rigging up a stable surface to put Doctor Gehrke on, or at least something that'd last the ride. The Captain had pressed some hands into jury-rigging a series of belts strapped to the legs of the shuttle chairs. Strung from one aisle to the other, the straps made a sort of hammock for the incoming stretcher. Doctor McCoy and Ensign Domanova, who had stayed at his boss' side throughout the whole journey, had made short work of hooking the contraption together.

Now, three figures were huddled over the improvised bed. Doctor McCoy was snapping orders. Nurse Chapel responded just as quickly, supplying hypo after hypo in addition to her vigilance monitoring the tricorder. Domanova was holding Doctor Gehrke down. Every so often, the linguist would jump as if he'd been startled. Of course, Gehrke was unconscious and in a bad way, if McCoy's language was anything to judge by.

"Chapel, we need one more stimulant. Just a half-dose. I'm afraid to give him anything more until we're back on solid- until we're on the Starbase."

"Right away, Doctor." Chapel responded, hypo in hand. She administered the stimulant, and Gehrke seemed to relax. Uhura didn't have much time to appreciate the paradox. A squawking noise from the front caught her attention.

"Blast- Spock, can you clear up that interference? I need both my hands."

"Of course, Captain."

Mister Spock adjusted the dials on the front console. Soon, the harsh noise stabilized. They were being hailed.

"- _base 38 requesting identification. Shuttlecraft, identify yourselves and state your purpose."_

"This is Commander Spock of the Federation starship _Enterprise._ Shuttlecraft _Copernicus_ requesting permission to dock. We have a medical emergency, I repeat, a _medical emergency_. Requesting permission to dock as soon as is possible."

Silence. Uhura held her breath.

" _Permission granted, Copernicus. Proceed to Dock 7A along standard approach vector."_

Someone else let out a sigh of relief. Uhura couldn't tell who. The Captain laid in the vector and guided the _Copernicus_ down to Dock 7A. Uhura watched the containment field fade slightly as the shuttle passed through. They hovered down the wide aisle. Captain Kirk found the designated parking spot lit with guiding lights. Gently as he was able, Kirk set the shuttle down.

Uhura was unbuckling before the engine shut all the way off. She stood, leaning out of the way briefly so Mister Spock could pass into the back. While she waited, Uhura stole a glance out the front window. She could see a good portion of the shuttle bay, as well as the entrance into the Starbase proper. A door at the end of the bay slid open. She made out the form of a man in red running forward. Behind him, several crewmen in blue were approaching with a gurney. _The cavalry has arrived!_ She thought before she was summoned from the back.

"Lieutenant!" The Captain called. "Get the door open! We've got to get Gehrke to the Medbay quickly."

"Yes sir." She moved to the front, activated the door, and stood to one side. Just as the door slid open, the leader of the aid group ran alongside. He made to enter the shuttle, but Uhura waved him off.

"Stand clear! They're coming through."

The man shuffled back just as Captain Kirk burst through the door. Mister Spock was right on his heels, holding one end of the stretcher. Uhura stood back as Doctor Gehrke was carried out of the _Copernicus_. Nurse Chapel was at the end of the line. She tapped Uhura's arm and motioned for her to join the procession.

Doctor McCoy was already shouting orders and the base personnel. Gehrke was transferred to the gurney, and the shuttle's compliment followed them out.

Uhura looked over her shoulder to find the man in red following them. Now that she had half a second, she noticed that their companion had pointed ears. _He's a Vulcan, unless Starfleet has relaxed their stance on the Romulan Empire._ The Vulcan had a lieutenant's stripes, large eyes, and a straight nose. Uhura noticed that, unlike their Mister Spock, this Vulcan had a rather… different haircut. For the most part, it was styled and orderly. It was almost funny, the single curl that stuck out on one side of his hairline. _Almost_ funny. Uhura couldn't imagine that this Vulcan, if he was anything like Spock, was pleased with _a cowlick_.

McCoy and the gurney were already through the shuttle bay doors. The group ran past several confused looking base personnel, but didn't stop for anything. Uhura was hot on Chapel's heels as the party raced through the corridors. _So much for protocol. I guess that's what happens when you run into trouble all the way out here- you learn that the plan is always subject to change. I just hope that the Commodore isn't everything that Captain Lauriston said. I'd hate to see the Captain get in trouble because of one man's obsession with the rules._

Medbay was straight ahead. Doctor McCoy was in the lead, guiding the gurney with one hand. Gehrke was flanked by the Captain and Mister Spock on one side, and Nurse Chapel and Ensign Domanova on the other. Lieutenant Uhura brought up the rear. When the big doors finally swished open, they were met by a whole host of doctors and nurses. Luckily, someone had alerted Medical.

McCoy was in his element, giving orders and prepping for the imminent surgery. "Get him to an operating room! Chapel, pull up Gehrke's scans from the last twenty minutes and have them displayed on the Medbay's computers. You there, nurse, get me another tricorder, and ready the crash cart. The patient is stable at the moment, but his condition is subject to change, so we've discovered. Doctor, I'd like a tox screen run as well. The patient was exposed to a few different compounds that we've been able to identify, but the filtering solution might've missed something."

Uhura took a step back, joining the Captain and Spock on the side wall, well out of the way. She watched as Doctor McCoy, Nurse Chapel, and Ensign Domanova disappeared into the operating room. Suddenly, everything was much quieter. Fewer doctors and nurses could be seen walking around. Everything seemed calmer, despite the frantic operation commencing in the next room over.

"Hmm," Captain Kirk commented, breaking the silence, "that went well."

"Captain?"

"I mean… As well as can be expected." He amended. "I suppose we should make ourselves useful and go track down Commodore Corbett. He's probably not too pleased with all of this unplanned docking and running around. Lieutenant Uhura, why don't you join Spock and I? Doctor Gehrke won't be needing a translator for a while, if McCoy and his sedatives have their way. Perhaps the Commodore would be more receptive to some sweet talking."

The Captain smiled, and Uhura relaxed for the first time in hours. It'd been a very long day already, and they'd only just arrived. She could see a few lingering stress lines on the Captain's face, but she doubted it was a feature she didn't mirror. So far, they had been attacked, had their ship crippled, and forced to break arrival protocol for a medical emergency. It was enough to push anyone's limits.

"I would be happy to join you and Mister Spock, sir." She beamed. "It sure beats being cooped up in the recovery ward."

Kirk smiled back at her, and they were about to make their exit when the main doors swished open. Uhura recognized the Vulcan from the cargo bay. He stopped immediately upon entering and stood at attention. His eyes flicked back and forth from the Captain to Spock before he spoke.

"Captain Kirk, I presume. Lieutenant L'Nel of Starbase 38 reporting, sir. I trust you have had no difficulties arise after your arrival?"

Uhura recognized the Lieutenant's voice and, apparently, so did her Commanding Officers.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lieutenant. Yes, I am Captain Kirk. This is my First Officer, Commander Spock, and my Communications Officer Lieutenant Uhura. You were the one who cleared us for docking, if I'm not mistaken?"

The Lieutenant's eyebrow twitched in a halted gesture of surprise. Uhura noticed. Lieutenant L'Nel maintained full composure when he answered. "You are correct."

The Captain seemed to get a feel for the conversation. Uhura saw his shoulders relax slightly, and he smiled. "I'd like to thank you for your efficiency. The linguist, Doctor Gehrke, is in surgery right now. I believe that some serious medical complications were avoided because of our quick docking, if I can interpret my CMO's grumbling right."

L'Nel's face developed a look that Uhura was familiar with. She would swear that he was going to ask about 'the illogic of grumbling at a fortuitous circumstance' in the same style as Mister Spock. But, the Lieutenant kept his mouth shut. Uhura didn't know if that was out of rank differences and respect, or acceptance of human behavior. _He might realize the logic in just keeping his questions to himself, especially if 'illogical humans' are involved._

Of course, Captain Kirk took this silence in stride. "Well, we were just about to check in officially with Commodore Corbett. Would you mind showing us they way to his office, Lieutenant?"

The other Vulcan nodded slightly. "Of course, Captain Kirk. If you would all follow me, I will take you to the Commodore."

He turned on his heel and exited. The Captain and Spock exchanged a glace before following L'Nel's lead. Uhura exited behind them. As they followed L'Nel out of the Medbay, she considered their conversation. _I haven't met very many Vulcans, besides Mister Spock's father and the handfuls from Vulcan ships we've encountered out here, but I got the distinct impression that this L'Nel was… well, he was almost nervous. A little shy, I'd say. Maybe this whole affair is too irregular. But the way he looked at the Captain and Mister Spock…_

Suddenly, another possibility occurred to her. Just how many Vulcans were involved with Starfleet? The only one she'd ever heard of before now was Commander Spock, but that didn't mean he hadn't opened the door for others to follow suit. She could have sworn she'd seen a couple pairs of pointed ears at the Academy when the _Enterprise_ stopped off for the Recruitment Fair.

 _Maybe that's it._ Uhura smiled to inwardly at the new idea that suggested itself. _Maybe this L'Nel is a little awestruck, meeting Spock in person._ _If he inspired a group of young Vulcans to pursue careers in Starfleet, then Mister Spock might be the hero to L'Nel that the Captain is to most human cadets._

He looked very young, this Lieutenant. From what she knew of Vulcans, their lifespans, and their mannerisms, this L'Nel was probably in his first year of service. He seemed a little cautious, but eager to perform his duty. Uhura knew how strange it must be, for a young person to leave everything they've grown up with to work in space. It must be even stranger, she decided, for a Vulcan. _Mister Spock and Lieutenant L'Nel must have quite the time coping with the foreignness of it all. Vulcans and Humans are so different. I'd imagine they would get very lonely, if Vulcans feel loneliness._

Eventually, the Captain restarted their conversation. Uhura was brought out of her musings by Kirk's authoritative voice.

"So, Lieutenant, what are your duties here aboard Starbase 38?"

L'Nel hesitated for a moment before answering. "I am a Communications Officer, primarily in charge of monitoring incoming and outgoing transmissions from Starfleet Headquarters. In addition to this assignment, I compile data from exploratory probes to expand the Federation's star charts."

"Then you are a part of the V'Plessi Initiative?" Spock used the Lieutenant's pause to interject a question. L'Nel twitched, but maintained his stoic expression. _V'Plessi Initiative?_ Uhura hoped an explanation would be forthcoming, as she had never encountered that term before. Judging by the look on her Captain's face neither had he. Whatever it was, L'Nel didn't seem completely comfortable, and Mister Spock looked wholly impassive.

"I am. The Vulcan Science Academy recommended this station because of the high probe traffic and statistical likelihood of encountering unknown life forms. As a Communications Officer with an aptitude for astronomy, such a position was logical."

"Indeed." Spock replied. "Quite logical."

There was silence in this section of the corridor. Uhura hoped they would come across another crewman, Starbase personnel, somebody. _Surely, even on a base of this size, we'd see at least one of the 134 crewmen…_

"Pardon me, Lieutenant, but could you explain what the V'Plessi Initiative is, exactly?"

Uhura felt the atmosphere change at her Captain's inquiry. She couldn't tell if Captain Kirk had noticed, but both Spock and Lieutenant L'Nel were _avoiding_ the initiative itself in their conversation. _Maybe,_ Uhura considered, _The Captain wants to clear the air. Maybe he's trying to make them talk about whatever this is that's making them so cold. Well, cold for Vulcans. Or it could be that he's annoyed with Mister Spock for knowing whatever it is about this that he doesn't._

"The V'Plessi Initiative involves an agreement between the Vulcan Science Academy and Starfleet that allows recent Academy graduates to pursue scientific or research based positions in Starfleet." L'Nel's speech became more clipped. It was subtle difference, but Uhura was well versed in Mister Spock's various habits. If his behaviors were anything to go by, they'd just hit a nerve between the two Vulcans.

"You may know it under a different name, Captain." Spock added. "In Starfleet, it is called the VSA Exchange."

The Captain had realized he'd made a diplomatic miscalculation, but in the effort of keeping things civil, he replied. "Oh yes. The VSA Exchange. A fine program. It sounds like Starbase 38 is lucky to have you, Lieutenant." Thankfully, he elected to drop it there.

In a matter of moments, they arrived outside the Starbase's main offices. More than a spacedock, less than a settlement, Starbase 38 was the in-space equivalent of a Federation outpost. They had appropriate armaments, equipment, shuttlecraft, and research data to facilitate the day-to-day operations of such a distant base. Since it was being run like an outpost, the main offices had their own set of protocols.

Lieutenant Uhura was immediately aware of the setting change when the group passed through the next set of doors. Firstly, there were two guards standing one either side of the inner door. Each one wore a red dress uniform and held a hefty phaser rifle. _Maybe Captain Lauriston was right after all..._ Uhura mused, _If Corbett has guards posted outside his office at all times, then we might be in for some trouble._

Sure enough, as the four of them entered, a look passed between the two guards.

"Captain Kirk, Commander Spock, and Lieutenant Uhura of the _Enterprise_ here to speak with the Commodore." L'Nel offered this as an introduction. He stood at attention before the two guards, waiting for a response. Captain Kirk, not to seem rude or aloof, approached the guards for himself. Uhura thought she saw a rifle hand tense, but her Captain's easy demeanor relaxed it back in an instant.

"Gentlemen. We're here to check in with Commodore Corbett and apologize for the irregular circumstances." Kirk offered a grin as he turned to look at each guard. "We were hoping to explain our difficulty and straighten everything out. Is the Commodore available?"

His stance on the matter was considerably less abrupt than L'Nel's. Whether or not it would produce different results, they would soon see. The left-hand guard nodded at his partner, and disappeared through the doorway. The right-hand guard kept a hold of his rifle.

The time ticked by. Uhura had a moment to process the feeling she'd had since setting foot off the shuttle. Something was off, here, and she couldn't put her finger on it. Everything seemed to be running smoothly and quietly. All of the personnel she'd encountered were helpful and efficient. _All of them that we saw… But, there weren't that many, were there?_ She knew that every Starbase kept its own hours based on the star they were closest to. Since communications were down, they hadn't been able to give the Starbase much of a warning. But even so…

 _Where are all the people?_ Uhura found herself asking. _I've seen only a handful- it's not as if I expect to see all 134 of them crowded in the corridors- and even then only L'Nel, these guards, and the medical staff. No technicians, no command crew certainly._ She knew a quiet Starbase was usually a well-organized one, but the atmosphere of 38 rubbed her the wrong way. Uhura glanced over at the Captain, hoping to ease her uncertainty.

Captain Kirk still had that same pleasant smile on his face. His eyes, however, were searching. He scanned the remaining guard with scrutiny. The Captain's eyes flicked back and forth from the corners of the room with a casualty that disguised the action. Spock was much the same, keeping a level gaze and a neutral expression while taking in all the details. Yes, she supposed something had to be wrong. One look at her commanding officers told her all she needed to know.

The double doors swooshed back open. The second guard appeared, face impassive, and gestured inward with the phaser rifle.

"The Commodore will see you now." He intoned. The other guard didn't so much as move. Uhura followed L'Nel and her COs through the doorway.

The door didn't lead immediately to the Commodore's office. There was a short hallway, interrupted occasionally by off-shooting branches and doorways. L'Nel knew the way. He led them the short distance to the office marked "Commodore Corbett". L'Nel rang the chime and the door slid open.

Captain Kirk entered first as the Lieutenant stood to the side. Spock was at his heel, and Uhura kept close by as well. Upon entering the office, she noticed the sparse nature of the décor. Not a single holopic on the wall, not a trophy, not a memento. There was a large viewscreen. There were a couple of chairs just in front of the plain desk. There was the desk itself, littered with PADDs, a stray stylus or two, and nothing at all personal.

She next noticed the Commodore. Behind the desk, Corbett slouched in his chair. He was pouring over something on his computer, for the moment ignoring his visitors. Corbett's neck craned forward. The light from the monitor reflected off his square jaw and neat brown hair. His hands rested on the edge of the desk, assisting his lean. Stocky arms supported a thick torso. The yellow of his uniform top was washed a little blue in the sliding light.

Once they had all entered, the office door shut. Corbett took the sound cue to shut off his monitor with a quick motion, and stand to greet his guests. Hunched over, Corbett had presented an entirely different figure than the man that now towered over The Captain, and even Commander Spock. The Commodore was imposing.

"Captain Kirk! Captain Kirk, and Commander… Spock, wasn't it? Sit down, won't you, sit down." Corbett had the tone to match his size, but Uhura noticed the words themselves came out jumbled, nervous. The Commodore's speech was an auditory hand wringing. Either something was terribly wrong, or the man was far more anxious about seeing them than they were about seeing him.

"Commodore Corbett. Yes, this is Commander Spock, and my Communications Officer Lieutenant Uhura." Kirk reached across the desk to shake the Commodore's hand. From in front of the desk, Uhura recognized a weaker grip.

"Of course. Of course. Take your seats, gentlemen. Now, before you say anything, I'll have you know that it's true, I am a stickler for protocol, as some would say." Commodore Corbett flashed an awkward smile. Uhura wondered if he knew how Captain Lauriston felt about him.

"I hold efficiency and order in the highest regard. I regret that we've had to forego custom in this case. Medical emergencies are what they are. But as inconvenient as that is, I expected to hear a word from the _Enterprise_ itself, not some wayward shuttlecraft coming in hot on its own agenda. That's disconcerting. It's disconcerting out here, what with the Klingons on one hand, and that Tholian menace on the other. What am I supposed to think? I only just received the report. Medical emergency, small Federation shuttlecraft, _Enterprise_ on our scanners but no response to our hails? Why, it has all the earmarks of a trap, gentlemen. A trap that would have taken us in completely…" He shot a scathing glance at L'Nel when he paused for a breath. "So, I am understandably distressed and disappointed at the lapse of logic and disregard for procedure- here, and on the _Enterprise._ But, I'm a fair man, Kirk. Before I file my report to Starfleet Headquarters, I'll listen to your excuse. In this dangerous corner of space, anything can happen. I am supposed to be open. This is the 'Gateway to the Federation', isn't it?"

Over the course of his speech, Corbett had moved from leaning as far from the desk as possible, to resting his elbows forward, to finally settling on a middle ground. He sat, poised between the edge of his desk and the back of his chair, arms folded high on his chest. Corbett eyed the Captain with a raised eyebrow. His posture was likely supposed to be intimidating. He came across as a man desperate to bluff.

Uhura watched Captain Kirk latch onto the Commodore's body language. She saw his shoulders tense and release. Clearly, he didn't like being talked down to, but he recognized the false bravado that oozed out of Corbett's every pore. She knew the Captain would handle this delicately. As a diplomat, he had Corbett completely outgunned. He could probably talk circles around regulation; excuse every action with the standard Kirkian charm. But, her Captain was a man of integrity. He would face his opponent with honesty, and give the man every dignity he may or may not even deserve. Decency above all else. Respect.

"Commodore Corbett, I'd like to start out by apologizing." Kirk leaned back in his chair, gesturing amicably. "It was my every intention to follow your protocols to the letter. We had our Security team prepared and ready. All of our paperwork was in line-Lieutenant Uhura can testify to that." He paused, looking quickly to Spock before continuing. " The truth is, sir, we were attacked. The _Enterprise_ was nearly dead in the water. Our communications are still shot, and transporter capability is gone."

Commodore Corbett displayed a variety of reactions to the news. Uhura watched as his face changed from neutral interest, to total shock. His listening expression warped in slightly delayed surprise.

"Attacked? By who? How many were there? What were their ships like?"

If the Captain was startled by the outburst, he only delayed momentarily in responding. "We're not sure just who it was that fired on us. Only that we've never encountered anyone quite like them, and we aren't eager to repeat the exchange. We had severe casualties, including Doctor Tillmann Gehrke. He's in surgery right now. His condition, according to my CMO, made it absolutely necessary to breach protocol. Any delay in transporting him to your Medical facilities would have proved fatal."

Corbett slid back in his chair. One hand came up to stroke his chin, the other reached out to drum on the desk. He was lost in thought, momentarily. An odd expression crossed his face before the Commodore returned Captain Kirk's stare.

"That sounds… absolutely terrible, Captain. I am sorry for your losses. I was not aware of the reasons behind your lapse in protocol, or of the nature of your emergency. Hmm. Your CMO is onboard? He has an opinion on Doctor Gehrke's condition?"

The Captain shifted in his chair. "Yes. Doctor McCoy is performing the surgery now, if the conditions haven't changed since we left. He is an accomplished surgeon. I'm sure if there's something to be done for Doctor Gehrke, he'll do it. I wouldn't trust anyone more to get the job done, if that's what you're getting at."

An edge had crept into Captain Kirk's voice. Uhura tried to identify the cause, maybe the shift in topics of conversation. Either way, he was on alert now. Something was about to happen, she was sure.

"Oh, I have no doubts about you and your crew. The best and brightest, as they say. Yes. So, when Doctor McCoy finishes the surgery, he will be able to give a report?"

Uhura fought to contain her reaction. _He would have Doctor McCoy report, fresh out of surgery? And on top of that, he doesn't seem to care that much about Doctor Gehrke at all! Why, if I were expecting such a renowned guest, I'd at least have the decency to act concerned that he's in surgery to begin with. This Commodore has a lot of nerve. Chris will have a fit when they send word down._

Apparently, Captain Kirk had to bite back a retort as well. "I- Well, Commodore, after a difficult surgery, Doctor McCoy would have post-operation duties to perform, but he could send a representative-"

"No, no! I wouldn't hear anything but firsthand information. Leave it up to a nurse, ensign, or yeoman to deliver news of that kind? Surely not, Captain Kirk. Straight from the source. I'll hear nothing less than Doctor McCoy's own report delivered in person. It's the principle of the thing, Captain. You can hardly afford to chance losing valuable information." Corbett gave his position with nervous excitement. The Commodore was back to leaning on the desk. His stance was more forward, more persistent. A bolder man would've gone so far as to raise his voice or shove a finger in the Captain's face. Commodore Corbett, though excitable, maintained some decorum.

"Lieutenant, fetch Doctor McCoy. As soon as he is available, I want him brought down here to report. Lieutenant Uhura, thank you for coming down, but you are dismissed as well. I'll have a word with your Captain here in the meantime."

 _Some decorum. Just enough to avoid a punch in the nose, Commodore or not!_ Uhura was almost fuming, but she kept her cool. It wouldn't do to make more of a scene. _And if I know the Captain, he'll rip Corbett a new one as soon as we're gone._

"At once, Commodore. Captain, Commander. Lieutenant Uhura, if you would like to accompany me, I will escort you back to the Medbay." L'Nel, the image of Vulcan tact, smoothed over Corbett's dismissal with an offer of his own.

"Of course, Lieutenant L'Nel. Commodore. Captain Kirk, Commander Spock." She nodded coolly at Corbett, but offered her COs a warmer look. _Go get 'im, boys._

Uhura followed L'Nel out of the office, down the corridors, and back past the two guards. She hoped that Doctor McCoy had already come out of surgery, and that maybe he would have had a second or two off his feet. _He was grouchy enough this morning. I'd hate to see his reaction to the Commodore… Then again, there's no one like Doctor McCoy for giving the bureaucracy a piece of his mind._

"Lieutenant Uhura," L'Nel began suddenly, "Your Captain said the _Enterprise_ was attacked by an unknown vessel. Is he certain that it was not of Klingon or Tholian construction? This would be the most likely conclusion, given the proximity to those two territories."

"We're certain. I saw the ship myself. It appeared on the viewscreen for a moment, until we fired our phasers. It warped away rather quickly after that."

L'Nel was silent a moment. "I see. It is curious, this ship of unknown origin. Did it hail you before opening fire? Could you understand any of their language?"

Uhura recognized a Communications Officer's curiosity. She discussed these same subjects with the others on the _Enterprise_ , or with her classmates at the Academy. First Contacts, new languages, it was all so utterly amazing. A whole culture, the knowledge and experiences of a civilization contained in a new set of syllables. She remembered devouring xenolinguistics texts with an insatiable appetite. Language was the gateway to understanding one another, on more than just a personal level. Uhura knew the value of words, and the right words at the right time, to expanding knowledge and developing relationships with new people and new cultures.

She felt a kindred spirit in L'Nel and gladly answered his question. "We never received a proper communication… At least, not one we were able to understand." Uhura's brow furrowed as she remembered those tense moments on the Bridge. "Although, I did detect a strange kind of static coming over one of the channels. I tried to run in through the Universal Translator, but then my console exploded. Doctor Gehrke pulled me back and got hit with the worst of the shrapnel. After that, I was much too concerned with him to worry about the signal. Not that there was much I could do about it, with the station still smoldering."

Uhura glanced up at L'Nel. He nodded for her to continue. "However, I think we might have salvaged some of the data. Before I was ordered down to Sickbay with Doctor Gehrke, I made sure some of the remaining Bridge Crew knew about the signal. I believe our repair crews were able to rescue a few snippets that I recorded."

"You mentioned a static. How did you ascertain that it was not a malfunction or another type of irrelevant interference?"

Talking shop like this was proving to be more fun than she'd expected. "To be honest, I wasn't sure at first. I recalled an incident with another contact, where the species we encountered used a system of almost musical pitches to communicate. This static was… Well, there was something similar about it. I'm trying to figure out what, but it just won't line up."

L'Nel seemed lost in thought. They rounded another corner and Uhura thought she recognized this hallway from their trip to the Medbay.

"Perhaps…" It was a murmur, barely audible, but it caused Uhura to turn and look at L'Nel. He met her gaze, weighed something in his mind, and spoke up. "Lieutenant Uhura, I have some… data that you may be interested in. I do not wish to wait until after we have delivered Doctor McCoy…"

There was an out here, and Uhura seized upon it. "You don't know Doctor McCoy, but I've seen him after a difficult operation. Trust me when I say it would be wise to leave him a few minutes before asking him to do _anything._ Even the Captain and Commander Spock give him a wide berth until he's well and ready to report." She grinned at the other lieutenant. "I think a little detour is just what the doctor ordered."

L'Nel's eyebrow quirked. Uhura could almost see the gears turning. She saw the moment he came to the decision.

"We do not know if Doctor McCoy is yet finished with the procedure…"

"Yes. And we've got to make sure to give the Commodore ample time to hear Captain Kirk's entire report. If we can use the time efficiently-"

"-It would be beneficial to all parties. Indeed. But," L'Nel considered, "we will need to be brief. It would not do to leave the Commodore waiting. At times, he is capable of… irrational irritation at inefficiency."

Uhura agreed, believing him wholeheartedly.

"All right, Lieutenant L'Nel. Show me this data."


	5. Chapter 5

Nurse Chapel switched from the medical report to the aggregate data file on Doctor Gehrke's surgery. She tapped in the last of the relevant information, saved the file, and turned off the screen. The PADD would soon join the six others Chapel had in her arms for submission to the Starbase's Chief Medical Officer.

Acting CMO Doctor McAdam was a combative man that Chapel immediately disliked. McAdam had micromanaged every nurse and doctor in the room, even McCoy. Of course, _her_ CMO had responded with volume that left McAdam cowering. The Acting CMO took McCoy's word on the situation from then on out. He stayed well away whenever McCoy was working, but refused to extend this courtesy to any of the other staff. It rubbed Chapel the wrong way.

As soon as they had finished the surgery and transferred Doctor Gehrke to the recovery ward, Chapel had been shooed out of the OR with the rest of the nurses. Doctor McAdam was going to have a private word with the surgeons, invitation only. _This is a bit much, even for a Starbase's CMO,_ Chapel decided. _Frontier Doctors have a reputation for being uptight and grouchy, but this one takes the cake. Who's ever heard of a nurse being chased out of Sickbay? The nerve._

She was about to arrange the last of the report when the doors to the OR opened.

"Really, Doctor McCoy," McAdam's nasal whine filled the room, "Such a technique is impressive, but if you had applied the Ji'Kani method to the tox screen reports-"

"Ji'Kani is fine if you're dealing with _poisons_ , doctor. I was far more concerned with the concentration of our Chief Engineer's conductivity fluid coursing through Gehrke's veins. Montgomery Scott is a genius, but his pet projects aren't always safe for human contact. My method got the job done, didn't it?"

Chapel could hear the tiredness in her boss' voice. Arguing with the other doctor was the last thing he wanted to do right now. _Well, I suppose it's time for a little intervention._ She set the stack of PADDs down on a desk, straightened her uniform, and set herself on a collision course with the exiting doctors.

"Doctor McCoy! I have a report you need to- Goodness, Doctor, you need to have a rest. We can't have you running up that blood pressure of yours again. This way, Doctor McCoy. Take a seat." Much to McAdam's surprise, Chapel managed to grab McCoy, steer him over to and empty chair, and set him down before either doctor really grasped what was happening.

"Really, Chapel, this is a bit much-"

"Now, nurse, I know it's been a long day, but I need to speak with-"

"I'm sorry, Doctor McAdam." She interrupted him and put a protective hand on McCoy's shoulder in an attempt to signal him, "but Doctor McCoy needs a moment to _calm down_. I have explicit orders from Captain Kirk to keep him from over-exerting himself. Why, after you were run through with a lance, and who can forget that xenopolycythemia scare we had a while back…"

"Xen-xeno…" Doctor McAdam was stunned momentarily. His eyes flickered from the surprisingly alive doctor to the serious looking nurse. He quickly gave up his attempt to divert McCoy from Chapel's attention. "I… I'll give you a chance to… Um. Commodore Corbett will want a report eventually. I'll go… write it…"

McAdam was off like a shot for his office. Chapel watched him go, smirking.

"Now that's more like it." She turned back to McCoy. "Couldn't have him 'driving up your blood pressure' now could we?"

McCoy snorted, but grinned up at her gratefully. "I'm fine, Chris, honestly. But, thank you for sending McAdam packing. The man's an idiot, a nuisance, and pretty poor company. I don't know how he got his license… But who am I to say how to run a Sickbay? Not every doctor keeps Saurian Brandy in his third desk drawer…"

Chapel smiled. _Mission accomplished._ "I don't know how you put up with him in there. He was driving the rest of the staff up the wall."

"If I hadn't had my hands full, I would've given him the boot." McCoy sighed and leaned back in his chair. Chapel perched on the desk next to him, retrieving her report from the stack. "I can't believe he made it this far, talking to his nurses like that. I know you'd've bumped him off in the first month of duty if he'd'a been your CMO. Then again, maybe that's why he's out here and not on a starship."

"I don't know if he'd have lasted that whole month, Len." Chapel rearranged the readings from before and after Gehrke's operation into readable fashion. "He might have made it a week, if things had been busy. I know I was sorely tempted to spike _your_ coffee on that first run. I hate to say it, but that psi-virus was the blessing we all needed." She smiled a little sadly at the memory. "We were working so hard to cook something up, no one had time to be short with each other."

"That's hardly what I'd call an ideal bonding exercise…" McCoy glanced over Chapel's arm at the PADD. "I think paintball on Yadina V was more fun. And speaking of that, who knew M'Benga was such a crack shot? I for one am thankful that they split us up by department. You know, that was a right good time." He picked up one leg and rested his heel on the edge of his seat. "I'll never forget the look on Jim's face when Spock shot him three times in the chest, stopped to apologize, and got utterly annihilated by Yeoman Rand." McCoy chuckled, and Chapel found herself laughing along with him. She remembered the legendary shore leave fondly. She also remembered taking out Rand for Spock's honor, but that wasn't here nor there.

"I have the last of the reports correlated." She turned the screen his way, so he wouldn't have to crane his neck for a peek. "If McAdam was right and the Commodore wants a report, then we'll have one for him." Chapel scanned the data one more time before passing off the PADD to McCoy. "Who knew Scotty's conductivity gunk would have such a nasty effect? I wonder if we can get him to develop a safer formula? Now, that's an inter-departmental project I'd like to get my hands on: non-hazardous compounds for heavily trafficked systems. We get enough plasma burns and shrapnel wounds. Those poor engineers shouldn't have to worry about corrosive compounds pumping through their arteries."

McCoy had been scanning the data, but the PADD dropped slowly to his lap. "You know, Chris," He commented, eyes brightening, "That may be the best idea I've heard in weeks. If Scotty can think up stuff to get the machines to work more efficiently, he can probably come up with _something_ safer for his people to work with. If you'd like, I could talk with him about it, and you two could propose the project at the next meeting. Does that sound alright?"

Chapel considered the idea. "If Scotty's up for it, then I'd love to give this a shot. Who knows? We could come up with the next big thing for ship's systems- standard on every ship in the fleet!" She grinned back at McCoy. "I don't know what we'd call it, but it would save a lot of engineers a lot of grief."

"And their doctors too." McCoy sighed. His face fell, and his attention turned down to the PADD. Chapel recognized the behavior. It happened now and again after a difficult mission or a wave of heavy casualties. Usually, the Captain or Spock would get themselves in a tight spot, and McCoy would have to put things back together. _Though, the Captain and Spock have been on their best behavior recently. Well they've tried. I think I know what's eating him today…_

She realized what it was that her boss was so concerned about, though she wasn't sure why this particular incident would have him so down. Chapel knew that McCoy and Commander Scott were good friends- and frequent weekend drinking buddies, but that was between her and the ventilation system- but Scotty wasn't in any immediate danger. In fact, he was doing so well, she'd estimated his release time for tomorrow at the latest. If McCoy was worrying over that… It didn't make much sense. _Looks like I'll have to sound this one out myself._

Chapel glanced around. There was an alcove off to the left with the Medbay's food replicator nestled inside. She hopped off the desk, crossed the short distance, and got two cups of cold water.

"Now," She addressed her boss as she returned to the desk, "They say you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." She pushed the cup towards McCoy. "Why the long face?"

The combination coaxed an interesting noise out of the Doctor's throat. After he'd stifled his chuckling, he took the cup from Chapel and had a sip.

"That," He paused, fighting another giggle, "was _awful_. I should be offended."

"It got you to laugh, didn't it?" Chapel couldn't help but smile. Her plan had worked, and her only regret was that she hadn't thought to film his reaction. _That was the most precious thing I've seen all week, and that includes Monday when I caught Spock making napkin origami in the mess hall._

"Yeah. That it did. Ok, you got me. I'm sick and tired of it. All of this 'I'll keep working until I'm dead, better in a coffin than in Sickbay' nonsense! They do it time and time again, and one of these days it's going to be too much. If our command team keeps this up, you'll have to watch more than my blood pressure, Chris."

It was a rant she'd heard before, usually after it had been given to the offending party. "Well, if you're interested, I talked with Ensign Yates from engineering. He said if it hadn't been for Scotty, we'd have been blown out of the water."

"Ensign Yates with the broken nose and lacerated hip?"

"The very same." Chapel scooted back onto the desk and let her legs swing. "While I was inputting the cartilage algorithm into the bone-knitter, he kept telling me about how everyone was certain we were in for it now. People trying to keep it together. According to Yates, Scotty came to his station leaning on a lieutenant and barking orders. They got the necessary power routed just in time." She flicked her eyes over to make sure McCoy was still listening. "And then, before he passed out, Scotty gave the order to route all unnecessary power to Sickbay. I had to shut him up to fix his nose, but he was adamant that Scotty saved the ship."

"I think we both know that he did." McCoy spoke up from his seat. He was examining his shoes. "Doesn't make it any easier."

Chapel sighed. It was the same routine and she realized that there was nothing any of them could do about it. She knew that McCoy knew as well. Everyone on the ship would do _everything_ in their power to keep the _Enterprise_ together, whether it was continue operating on less than an hour's sleep or patch the ship back together with a punctured lung. _And they're going to keep doing it, or at least be able to as long as we're around. All this moping isn't going to do any good. You're a close man, McCoy, but I'm getting you out of this funk if it kills me._

She didn't get the chance to question further. The main doors opened. As McAdam was in his office, whatever emergency arose would fall into _their_ laps.

Fortunately for both Doctor and Nurse, it was not an emergency.

"So, the vibrations have a pattern to them? To borrow one of Commander Spock's favorite expressions, I'd say that's 'fascinating', L'Nel."

"I concur. It would prove most interesting to look through the data you gathered onboard the _Enterprise._ I-"

Chapel and McCoy stood as their visitors approached. It was Uhura and someone else. _He looks familiar._ Chapel noticed the ears and the cowlick, but kept her mouth shut. _Uhura will introduce him, no doubt. And since we've seen neither hide nor hair of the Captain and Spock, I bet they sent these two down. Maybe we'll finally get some news._

"Chri- Nurse Chapel, Doctor McCoy, I'd like to introduce Lieutenant L'Nel. He's the Communications Officer here. L'Nel, this is Doctor McCoy, our CMO, and Nurse Chapel, our Head Nurse."

The Lieutenant inclined his head. "Greetings Doctor McCoy, Nurse Chapel."

 _He's got manners enough; I'll give him that._ Chapel regarded their visitor. His stripes said 'lieutenant', but he looked awfully young, she decided, even for a Vulcan. _Fresh out of the Academy? I'll have to get the full story on this one. I'm surprised Spock hasn't commented on the Vulcan cadets, if that's what I'm seeing here. If this L'Nel went through the Academy, Spock must not have known. Otherwise, there would have been an argument in Sickbay last month wild enough to shake the Bridge. Oh, I can just hear the 'gift of additional logic to counteract your species' illogical tendencies, Doctor'._ Then again, that didn't mean the fight would be purely imaginary… She'd have to see how the good Doctor reacted.

"How'd'ya do, Lieutenant?" McCoy nodded in return, but didn't hold out his hand. As grouchy and competitive as he was with Spock, the Doctor was actually very aware of most alien protocols. If L'Nel expected a different reaction, he didn't show it.

"I am quite well, Doctor." He paused. L'Nel's eyes flicked quickly to Uhura's face, as if searching for a cue or permission. They returned to Chapel and McCoy in an instant. "I trust the surgery progressed well and without incident?" A tentative question, not presumptuous or rude. _Manners indeed,_ Chapel appraised him again. _Yes, he's young, but you don't get to be an officer through politeness- I'm standing next to a living example. Nyota said he's a communications officer. I wonder if it was him over the channel giving us permission to dock?_

"Yes, yes…" McCoy drawled, folding his hands behind his back. "There were quite a few complications- for various reasons- but I expect Doctor Gehrke will make a full recovery."

Uhura's face brightened. Chapel knew she had been as concerned for the linguist as the rest of them. This was some welcome news.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Uhura beamed at the pair. "I was so worried when he had another attack-! But he was in the best possible hands. I knew you two would pull him through."

As exasperated as he had been, McCoy looked to be on the verge of blushing. Over the course of the mission, Nurse Chapel had observed the easy friendship between her boss and her good friend. Just today, she'd seen them chatting away in the recovery ward over coffee. _I worry about him too much. He's not a child or an invalid. But…like he'd say, it 'does my heart good' to see him happy._ Uhura looked her way and grinned. They exchanged a nod. _Oh yes. I owe her an ice cream at the least._

"Now, I don't see either Jim or Spock anywhere around here." McCoy started. "So, 's far as I can tell, they've sent y'all down here for somethin'."

"The… Commodore has requested your report, Doctor McCoy." There it was again. L'Nel glanced over at Uhura before he spoke. "He wishes for you to deliver it in person, along with any data you will have collected before arriving." The Lieutenant shifted his weight slightly.

All of these mannerisms raised red flags in Chapel's mind. _Ok. He's standing ramrod straight, hands behind his back… All normal and perfectly Vulcan behaviors. But he hasn't moved more than an inch from Nyota's side this whole time. What is he so nervous about? Don't tell me he's afraid of Doctor McCoy…_

"The Commodore wants all that, huh?" The Doctor's gaze drifted to the floor and he rubbed his hands together. "I'm fresh out of the OR, so I'll need a bit to clean up, correlate findings, the usual business. How's an hour sound?"

By now, Chapel was ready and watching. _This L'Nel is worried about something. He's subtle, though. If I didn't spend so much time lo- observing Spock, I'd never have picked up on it._

"Unfortunately, that will not be acceptable. The Commodore requests your report as quickly as possible. We- I… have been sent to escort you to the Commodore's office." L'Nel finished speaking and froze, waiting for the axe to fall.

To his credit, McCoy didn't combust. The Doctor's face transformed. He expressed shock, which morphed into disbelief- thinly veiling the anger that had started to build.

"Now?" One eyebrow. Confusion of the features, but hardness in the eyes. Chapel fought the urge to sigh. _Things had been going so well, too!_

"As quickly as is possible. I apologize, but the Commodore was very specific in his request-"

She _knew_ it wouldn't take very long. Outrage. "Of _course_ he was!" McCoy fumed. "Sure, no problem, _sir_ , I'll have that report on your desk right this very minute and oh don't mind the smears, I didn't have much time to _wash up or anything_! Not half a second off my feet and he wants _me_ to go and hand him the data-! Hand him the PADD with the information I could'a just _sent_ straight to his computer…!"

L'Nel's eyebrows had hit the roof. The commotion had Doctor McAdam poking his head out of his office. Chapel decided it would be now or never to diffuse this. "Doctor, remember your blood pressure…" She grabbed his shoulder, hoping he'd stop the tirade at least in front of the Acting CMO.

" _To blazes_ with my blood pressure _-_!" McCoy stopped, sighed, and ran a hand over his face. _Good. He's seen McAdam. At least we've avoided the worst of the tirade. He'll get going again later, I guarantee, but McAdam won't have anything to report. If I play my cards right, we can write this off as exhaustion with a grin and a handshake. Maybe Nyota can be my character witness. We'll play this poor man like a fiddle._

"Sorry, sorry." He was back with them. McCoy glanced up and took in L'Nel's stance. The Lieutenant looked as if his duty was the only thing keeping him from sprinting out the nearest exit. His eyes were still wide as saucers.

"Nurse, would you gather up those PADDs?" McCoy gestured to the data on the desk and returned his attention to the Lieutenants. "Do I at least have enough time to do a once-over in the mirror? I don't want to mosey up to the Commodore covered in blood and conductivity fluid…"

"Yes, that will be acceptable." L'Nel blurted. In a more subdued tone, he added, "A few minutes delay should not be an issue, Doctor McCoy."

McCoy nodded his thanks and made for the prep rooms. Chapel supposed he wanted a minute to collect his wits, maybe splash some water on his face. ' _Post-op McCoy' is never 'Fun McCoy'. Or 'Particularly Pleasant McCoy' if you want to go into specifics… Any second we can put in before he absolutely has to see the Commodore is a blessing._

"So, what brings you down here, Nyota? Do The Captain and Commander Spock need something?" Chapel decided the only reason that Uhura would be back and not debriefing with the Commodore was that the Captain had sent her down here himself. _Something important and official, no doubt. She was the one who collected all the data on that transmission. If there's any reason she wouldn't be needed-_

"Oh, L'Nel invited me along." The diplomatic tone spoke volumes. Chapel didn't like it. "The Commodore only needed to speak with the Captain and Commander Spock. We've actually had a lot to discuss!" She changed her tone quickly, glossing over the resentment that covered the end of her last statement. "L'Nel has collected some very interesting data." Uhura raised a PADD and waggled it. Chapel was surprised she hadn't noticed it from the beginning. "It's very-… We'll need a while to look at it later."

The abrupt reversal in Uhura's sentence didn't make any sense until Chapel noticed that Doctor McAdam had begun making a 'round'. _So, this is sensitive information,_ she realized, _And Doctor McAdam is really about as subtle as a Klingon marriage proposal…_

"Great!" Chapel put on her 'happy nurse' face. "We can look it over in a minute, if you'd like. Plus I got the report on synthetic fibers and their effect on skin tissue in low-gravity environments. We can look over that one too and discuss the variances in this report compared with last year's."

Uhura's mouth fell open a fraction. She managed to keep a pleasant but confused expression while Doctor McAdam retreated to his office. Chapel watched his back as the door closed and shook her head.

"I just don't get that man." Chapel returned to the conversation. "Sorry about that. I don't know what's eating your Acting CMO, L'Nel, but he's been on Doctor McCoy's case all afternoon. Hardly a moment's peace unless I get between them. Really, it's highly unusual."

L'Nel inclined his head. "I prefer the supervision of Doctor Toler, our regular Chief Medical Officer. She is efficient and attentive to protocol. Doctor Toler and her husband will be missed for the next few weeks as they have returned to Earth."

"Oh yes! We spoke with Captain Lauriston of the _Sophie_." Uhura remembered, "She said they were bringing your CMO to Earth on maternity leave."

"Indeed. Doctor Toler is expected to return in ten weeks time, with her child and her husband. She has assured me that this addition to her family will not conflict with her duties here. Mister Toler is only a technician, and he intends on supervising the child while Doctor Toler attends to her duties."

"Sounds like quite the arrangement." Chapel commented. "Children on starbases. What next? Daycares on starships?"

"The times are changing, Chris. I've heard of researchers in remote sectors applying for and being granted permission to bring their families along. We've seen our fair share of children among the stars."

"Some of those have been… special cases, Nyota, but I see what you're saying. Anyhow, McAdam's long gone. What was it that you two were looking at?"

L'Nel spoke up this time. "Lieutenant Uhura and I were comparing samples of data that I had collected during my star charting duties with the samples she recorded during the attack on the _Enterprise._ "

"Did you find anything interesting?"

"Actually, Chris, we-"

"Alright, ladies… and gentleman, let's get this show on the road." Doctor McCoy sauntered back into the main ward, rubbing the back of his neck with a disposable wipe. "I'd like to get this over with as quickly as is humanly- or _vulcanly_ \- possible." He scooped the PADDs up off the desk and took a stance in the middle of the group.

"I will escort you, Doctor McCoy." L'Nel volunteered. "Lieutenant Uhura, if you wish to discuss your reports with Nurse Chapel… I believe I will be capable of handling my assignment alone."

"Thank you, L'Nel, that's just what I was thinking." Uhura offered him a warm smile.

"Well, if that's settled," McCoy remarked, "then we best be on our way. Lead on, Lieutenant. I'm anxious to get this over and done with."

The Doctor followed L'Nel towards the doors with a wave over his shoulder for Nurse Chapel and Lieutenant Uhura. He shifted the PADDs under one arm. It went without saying that he would rather spend another few minutes taking a break than heading off to this debriefing, but duty called. The doors in front of L'Nel swished open. McCoy took a deep breath through his nose and exhaled slowly. He would need to stay calm, speak quickly, and return to his patient. Heaven forbid this meeting take him away from Gehrke during a crisis.

They had hardly gone twenty feet when the klaxons came to life.

Red alert.

Without thinking, McCoy spun on his heel. The reinforced door was already descending. He ran for all he was worth, hoping it would be enough. He was closing in. Ten feet. Five. The clang of metal against metal. It was over. The quarantine protocol had been activated, the blast doors were lowered, and there was no way in without an override from the CMO.

That didn't stop McCoy from venting his dissatisfaction.

"Nurse Chapel! Christine, what's goin' on in there? Get this door back open!" He pounded on the blast door, shouting for all he was worth. After a moment, his communicator chirped. Over the blaring klaxon, he tried to make out the voice.

" _Doctor McCoy! What's happening out there?"_ It was Uhura. " _The quarantine protocols went into effect the same time as the red alert. Chris can't find Doctor McAdam; he's not in his office-... Here, Chris, it's Doctor McCoy."_

 _"What's going on out there?"_ Chapel's voice rang out over the channel.

"Red alert, Chapel, not much else!" He growled.

The longsuffering sigh could be heard clearly enough. " _Yes, beyond that! We don't know what's going on! McAdam's off who knows where. You need to find out what's happening and get the quarantine lifted. I don't know if there are enough people in here on duty if something goes wrong. McAdam chased most of them out if I remember right."_

"Alright, alright. We'll get to the bottom of this!" McCoy licked his lips and glanced down the hallway. L'Nel had followed him back, looking about as confused at the situation as a Vulcan could be. "Hold tight, you two. Go find Domanova. I know he's sulking around in there somewhere. If this is a firefight, he might be able to finally pull his weight. L'Nel and I are going to sort this out. Sit tight. Call me if you need anything."

He flipped his communicator shut. Whatever was happening out there, he was glad that there was at least some backup. Uhura had seemed to like L'Nel, so he likely wasn't a bad sort. _She's a real good judge of character, that one._

"Alright! You got any idea what the fuss is all about?" McCoy clipped the communicator to his belt and turned to see what L'Nel had to say. To his surprise, he found the Lieutenant huddled in front of a wall console, scanning some readings and not looking too pleased. Blue and yellow lights flickered across his face as the information scrolled past.

"I believe we should continue to the Commodore's office, Doctor." He shut off the screen with the flick of a switch and made for a different door than the one they'd been heading toward.

"Not to tell you how to saddle your own horse, but weren't we just headed that way?" He gestured over his shoulder with his thumb. "What's happenin' around here anyhow? What'd the computer have to tell you?"

L'Nel opened what looked like a storage closet and stepped inside. McCoy leaned into the doorway to get a good look. The walls were lined with metal shelves, hooks, and brackets. Most of these held weapons.

The Doctor let out a low whistle and followed L'Nel through the doorway. Phaser rifles had their own section, as well as the hand phasers- types 1 _and_ 2- and an odd assortment of what must be body armor. L'Nel was concentrating his efforts at the back. He turned after a moment, holding a tricorder and a fair-sized medical kit.

"Doctor." He held the kit out with one hand and shouldered the tricorder with the other. McCoy stepped up to take the kit. He recognized the basics, but this was a larger model than what he was used to carrying around. _More along the lines of a big purse than a tricorder, but I've never been one to look a gift horse in the mouth._ He slung the medkit over his shoulder and looked at L'Nel expectantly.

"Lieutenant, I _would_ like to know what's going on, if that's not too much trouble." McCoy didn't put much effort into keeping the irritation out of his voice. He wanted answers now, thank you very much.

"Beyond the quarantine protocols being activated at a rather convenient time, I would say that- based on the computer's status and lack of communications- the Starbase is under attack, and has likely already been infiltrated." L'Nel stated coolly.

McCoy needed a moment to pick his jaw up off the floor. Before he had long enough to formulate a response to that bombshell, L'Nel was on the move, gesturing to the racks of weapons.

"Arm yourself, Doctor." L'Nel instructed, taking a type 2 hand phaser from the rack. He eyed the phaser rifles, but decided against one. "We will attempt to rendezvous with the Commodore, as per his original instruction. The chances of encountering your Captain and Commander in the offices are also high. But, we must move quickly."

McCoy grabbed a little type 1 phaser from the closest shelf and tucked it away in his medkit. If worse came to worse, he'd pull it out, but for now it was safe and out of sight.

"I'm set. What's the plan, Lieutenant?"

L'Nel was standing near the doorway. He peeked into the hallway, scrutinizing the terrain in both directions before motioning for McCoy to follow him out. As soon as the closet's doors shut, L'Nel turned and fired. The locking mechanism sparked, fried, and died. Nobody'd be getting through those doors for a while.

"We should utilize the seldom-used corridors, as the intruders are unlikely to venture down them. They will be targeting the main systems, the weapons storage, and possibly the shuttlebay."

"What about the offices?" McCoy retorted. "Aren't we walking right into the line of fire?"

L'Nel checked around the next corner. "Not necessarily. The layout of each Starbase is largely unique, depending on location and function. Unless the intruders have prior knowledge of the Starbase's layout, which is highly improbable, then they will have to work with what they will be able to find. The most likely points of entry are the cargo bay, shuttle bay, and any of the five docking ports around the base, provided that they did not utilize transporter technology."

"And if they have?" McCoy was struggling to keep up with L'Nel's urgent pace. They were scooting down hallways faster than greased pigs on a glass ramp.

"If they have, then predicting their possible location is a futile exercise. Probability weighs heavily into predicting safe transport sites, but more plausible is the theory that they arrived by other methods." L'Nel held up a hand at the next corner. He crouched against the wall and leaned out into the open at about knee height.

"What is it?" McCoy hissed, afraid to be overheard by who or whatever might be down that hall.

L'Nel continued his scan before straightening up again. "It was one of our security patrols. Unfortunately, they were not headed for the offices. We will continue."

It was like this for some time. They would take a hallway, L'Nel would scout it, and they'd be back to running with no sign of the enemy. Eventually, they arrived outside the main offices. There wasn't a soul in sight.

"Ok. We're here. Now, how do we get inside? Looks like the same blast doors are down here."

"There is a secondary entrance that utilizes the same protocol, but has an external override panel. It is further back, in a more secluded location."

"Alright." McCoy conceded, fiddling with the strap on his medkit. "Lead on."

They continued down the main hallway. A corner or two later, as L'Nel surveyed the corridor from cover, McCoy spotted the blast door up ahead.

"Finally!" He sighed, striding forward, "Jim will have a fit when he hears about-" McCoy didn't get the chance to finish. No sooner than he'd taken two steps, L'Nel leapt out from his spot behind the wall and grabbed the Doctor's arm.

"Quickly!" He ordered, "This way." L'Nel punched a code into a side-door terminal and shoved McCoy inside. The Lieutenant soon followed, shutting the door and leaving them both in darkness.

"What's this all about?" McCoy seethed, trying to keep his ribcage clear of L'Nel's elbow.

A hand pressed him backwards, blocking any movement towards the door. "Quiet, Doctor. They are here."

McCoy froze. He could hear it now, too. Shouting. Running footsteps. Then it started: phaser fire. The cries of the wounded. He clutched his medkit with both hands, wanting nothing more than to race out that door and do his job. _If I've got this great big box, I might as well be allowed to use it. That's a battle going on out there, not a blasted tea party! And here we are, hiding in a broom closet. Those people need help; you can hear it plain as day!_

It seemed as if the Lieutenant must've sensed his thoughts. L'Nel pressed McCoy further into the small space, shutting down any attempts on his part to leave.

"I can see what you're up to, Lieutenant, and I'm not having any of it!" He insisted. "Now you let me out that door, or I'm gonna raise a fuss like none other-"

Surprise of surprises, L'Nel clamped a hand on McCoy's mouth and shushed him. The good Doctor decided he'd had just about enough of this nonsense when he noticed the sounds of battle had stopped. Completely. The total silence was unnerving and, if his instincts told him anything, a very bad sign.

After a solid five minutes of waiting, L'Nel moved away from the Doctor and found the door panel in the darkness. Slowly, the door slid open. It was just enough for L'Nel to stick his nose out. He brought his head back and opened the door all the way.

"The hallway is clear, Doctor. It would be wise for us to enter the safety of the offices." L'Nel exited the broom closet and made a beeline for the blast door. McCoy made a slightly more cautious exit, glancing both ways before crossing the threshold. It was a good thing he did, because L'Nel altogether missed the pair of boots sticking out from behind the wall.

"Lieutenant! We have injured!" McCoy started, pulling his medkit off his shoulder.

"I will join you in a moment, Doctor."

"Forget your 'moment'! Somebody could be dying!" He rounded the corner, ready to go, and was met with a highly unusual sight. The being looked vaguely humanoid, but beyond being bipedal and human shaped, the similarities stopped.

The alien- for it was definitely a species he'd never seen before- was lying motionless on the ground with no definite cause of injury. The patient had blue-ish, almost lavender skin, with a gold stripe running from the eyebrows- or lack thereof- over the top of their head. Where there would've been ears on a humanoid, he found drums like those on a frog, covered in a thick layer of skin. Body hair appeared to be nonexistent. If he had to make an educated guess, he'd say this species likely had a second set of eyelids to facilitate the benefits of eyelashes. He'd say amphibious, too, but there wasn't much basis for that deduction as of yet.

McCoy knelt down next to his patient and took his handheld scanner from the medkit. "Heart rate 50 BPM, which for I all know could be normal for y'all…" He muttered, wishing he had more equipment at his disposal. "Lieutenant! I need your tricorder! On the double!"

Reluctantly, L'Nel pulled himself away from the panel. McCoy could see the unwilling tilt of his shoulders as he made his way to the Doctor's side. Once he arrived, the Vulcan's eyebrows reached for the sky.

"Doctor McCoy… This is undoubtedly one of the intruders. It would be dangerous to continue this course of action."

"Yeah, that's nice. Let me see that tricorder." He snapped his fingers and held his palm open before frowning at the hand scanner readings. L'Nel was about to protest, but he seemed to recognize an immovable object when he saw one. The Lieutenant unstrapped his tricorder and handed it over. But, he kept an eye on the so-called 'patient' and a hand to his holster. One couldn't be too cautious.

"Thank you very much." McCoy calibrated the tricorder based on his new readings and began a proper scan. "They've been hit with a heavy stun, 's far as I can tell. Really wreaked havoc on the body systems… Though, I can't tell what's normal for this species, I can tell you that they've got a significant amount of glucinium in their blood. That, and the body chemistry is vastly different from most of the humanoids I've ever come across." He glanced down the hallway in both directions. Nothing but a blast door and a vent cover in sight. "Anyhow, the real problem is the electrical readings. Typically, anyone with a beating heart gives off a certain amount of electricity- small amounts usually- but this individual has a remarkably high reading. A whole 500 millivolts from unconscious processes only."

McCoy reached back into his medkit and retrieved some gauze and a hypospray. "Now, I thought this one hadn't taken a hit when I first did my once-over, but the tricorder registers a phaser burn on the torso, just below the left collarbone. Good thing whoever-this-is has their heart set whereabouts most humanoids have a trachea." He took a few strips of gauze and set them aside. "Here, help me get a look at that burn."

Doctor McCoy guided L'Nel through this process. The Lieutenant helped undo the strap on the patient's collar and expose the shoulder. McCoy ran his tricorder back over the site, making doubly sure he had the right area.

"Looks like this is it. I can see a little bit of discoloration starting over the bone, but then again, that could be anything. It's always better to proceed with caution when you're dealing with a new species. I'll have to be sure before I give this one anything. Who knows how their kind reacts to something perfectly harmless in humans?"

After a bit of prodding and some more careful examination, McCoy returned to his hypospray. He adjusted the dosages best as he could, mentally praying that his hunches were right. "I'm trying the most basic stimulant. First, though, we should probably check the wound for any changes. Keep holding the collar, yes, just like that…" The Doctor set his hypo down on his leg before diving back into the medkit. He retrieved the standard water pouch and dabbed a bit onto the gauze. It was clean and it was cool; that was all that mattered.

McCoy gave the now purpling wound a couple passes with the gauze, before crumpling the tissue and setting it aside. The phaser burn- or whatever was happening on his patient's collarbone- was turning a darker shade than he'd have liked to see.

"L'Nel, I'll need and adhesive strip. Keep holding that collar."

"I will endeavor to do so, Doctor." L'Nel murmured.

McCoy rifled through the medkit until he found the adhesives. Inside, he also discovered some burn cream. He turned over the tube to check the primary ingredients and crosschecked them with the scans he'd taken earlier.

"Seems safe. Maybe we'll get a word if it's not to our patient's liking, huh?" McCoy turned to L'Nel with a grin and a raised eyebrow. L'Nel did not respond, he only stared back at the Doctor and waited.

"Alright, alright. Here we go, pal." McCoy squeezed some burn cream into his palm and gently applied it to the phaser wound. His patient didn't stir. "Must be A-Okay. And now, the big band-aid." The adhesive strip went on smoothly. McCoy gave it a little pat before nodding to L'Nel. The Lieutenant released his hold on the patient's collar. McCoy took up the hypospray and administered what he hoped was the right dosage.

Without warning, the patient's eyes flew open. A swift elbow sent L'Nel sprawling. Unfortunately, it had been the patient's injured side. The alien winced and fell back to the floor. McCoy knew what he had to do.

"Hey!" He got the alien's attention with a firm yet careful grip to the shoulders. "Calm down! It's all right. We're trying to help you." The alien began struggling again, but McCoy kept his hold. "Easy there, friend, we're not trying to hurt you. L'Nel, grab that water pouch!"

The Lieutenant had recovered quickly and soon complied. The patient was making some unusual sounds that McCoy decided must be the native language. There was definitely an attempt to communicate.

"Thanks, L'Nel." McCoy took the pouch with one hand and maintained a hold of his patient with the other. "See?" He said, taking a small sip, "It's safe. You drink some now, y'hear?" He offered the water to his patient, who appeared to be calming down.

Hesitantly, the alien took the water pouch. McCoy offered a gentle squeeze of the patient's uninjured shoulder in support. Emboldened by the gesture, the patient drank. Apparently, this species had H2O, because the pouch was quickly drained.

"Well, water's out. Where should we take this one, L'Nel? Sickbay's still bolted up tighter than Fort Knox, and the broom closet's hardly the place for a patient…"

L'Nel adopted a look of muted astonishment. "Are you suggesting that we take the intruder with us as a patient, instead of a prisoner?"

McCoy pursed his lips. "That's exactly what I'm suggesting you pointed-eared-… Sorry, L'Nel. That wasn't for you. Listen, what I'm saying is that this… alien person is injured and clearly in a bad way. I can't, in good conscience, leave without making sure they get adequate medical treatment. It's only the civil, moral, and plain decent thing to do."

The Lieutenant listened to McCoy's speech with unusual attention. His eyes occasionally flicked to the now conscious intruder but… Doctor McCoy made a valid and dare he say it _logical_ argument.

"It is always preferable to preserve life. Very well, Doctor. I suggest we move your patient into the offices, provided that I am able to unlock the-"

There was a clang, and a decidedly more ominous _clack_. McCoy and L'Nel turned to find themselves staring down the barrel of a phaser rifle.

"And just _what_ , may I ask, is going on here?" A big officer in gold sneered. Beyond the phaser rifle and the attitude, his stripes gave away his identity.

"Commodore Corbett, I presume." McCoy scoffed. "If you must know, I am attending to a patient." He shifted his weight so that he blocked the alien from Corbett's line of fire. "Now, put that thing away, and maybe we can discuss things like civilized people."

The rifle dropped slightly, but not enough for the Doctor's liking.

"Oh. So _you're_ Doctor McCoy. I must say your reputation for insubordination precedes you. Mmm, yes, the reports were right. Just so. Step away from the invader, Doctor, for your own safety."

This only cemented McCoy's stance. He was half-crouched, directly in line with Corbett's rifle sight. His elbows were out from his sides, ready to bring up a defense. Whatever happened, no force in the universe was moving McCoy from his patient's side. At least, not without a fight.

"I'm sorry, Commodore, but that's a no-can-do. This is my patient, and I'm going to ensure that whoever they are, they receive adequate medical care." He kept his gaze locked on Corbett. "Don't we extend that courtesy to prisoners and civilians alike?"

The Commodore kept his rifle elevated for another long moment. When the tip finally dropped, McCoy couldn't say he wasn't surprised.

"You've made quite the case, Doctor." Corbett accepted at last. "You may see to your patient. There's a safe room in the offices that the senior officers have holed up in. Your Captain and the Commander are taking shelter there. L'Nel can help you carry your… patient. I'll lead the way."

McCoy nodded once to the Commodore and turned back to his patient, only to find himself nose-to-nose with a _very_ big gun.


	6. Chapter 6

Nurse Chapel was pacing back and forth in front of the blast door. The red alert was blaring, albeit quieter than the roaring din would be outside. McCoy had gone, and he'd taken the only person on this blasted base who'd actually been kind of helpful. _L'Nel seems like a… logical man. At least McCoy has somebody with him who knows the base layout. Maybe it'll be just fine. Uhura's a great judge of character. She wouldn't have sent him off with L'Nel without a word if he wasn't trustworthy._

 _Speaking of Nyota…_ Chapel looked around the entryway. Uhura looked to be lost in thought at the other end of the doorframe. She was gazing off at the floor, one hand on her hip and the other pressed against her chin.

"Did you think of something?" Chapel asked. She knew Uhura was as sharp as they came. Often times, the Communications Officer was the one getting them out of trouble. Captain Kirk could use his bravado to bluff his way out of a situation, but Lieutenant Uhura would be the one to talk her way out of it- and with quite some finesse.

"Only that it seemed like the doors were going down _almost immediately_ after the Red Alert sounded." Uhura said. "Usually, if we're quarantining Sickbay because of an attack, the Captain has me call down and relay the order. There was no time for that. I would know." She tapped a finger on her lip, still puzzling over details.

It occurred to Chapel that it _had_ happened just as Uhura said. Sickbay always got a call before quarantine went into effect. Unless it was protocol on a Starbase, which Chapel bet dollars to donuts it _wasn't_ , then there would have to be an order. This kind of thing- _especially_ in battle situations- wasn't really at the CMO's discretion.

"Chris…" Uhura turned from the door. "Is there another way out of Sickbay? Do we have to go through McAdam?"

Chapel bit her lip. "I think so. That man is a menace, but he has the keys to this place. Then again… Did you consider that maybe we're locked down for a reason?"

Uhura nodded. "I have, and I still think there should be a little more communication going on around here. Why don't we go track down McAdam and make him give us some answers?"

"I'd like nothing better. Great idea." Chapel grinned wryly. Nothing like a little gentle persuasion to get the job done. It was like she'd been thinking earlier. Between the two of them, there wasn't a man alive they couldn't strong-arm into seeing reason.

The pair turned, ready to make for the Acting CMO's office. Before either had taken a step, there was a shout and a loud crash from the recovery ward. Chapel's eyes widened and she gasped. " _Gherke!"_ Both Lieutenants made a mad dash for the doorway.

Chapel made it through first. The doors swooshed open and she was met with quite a sight. Doctor McAdam was grappling with Doctor Gherke's aide. Ensign Domanova, despite his size, seemed to be having some difficulty. He was half pinned under McAdam. The Acting CMO had and arm across Domanova's throat.

The sudden influx of people made Doctor McAdam look up. Domonova took his opportunity. In one motion, he got his legs up under McAdam and flipped the doctor over to the side. Then, the Ensign rolled after him and delivered a sharp blow. McAdam was down for the count.

"What is going on in here?" Nurse Chapel shouted. She lunged to the side table and grabbed the first available hypospray, ready to defend herself if it came to that.

Uhura tried a more diplomatic approach. "Ensign, stand down." Her voice was stern, but less panicked than Chapel's. "I want an explanation, Mister. Why did you attack Doctor McAdam?"

Domanova rolled back over to face them. He was sweating. Other than the remaining evidence of McAdam's right hook, Domaonva seemed unharmed. Only, he wouldn't stand.

"Attacked him?" The Ensign panted from the floor. For a big guy, he seemed to have been taken down rather easily. "You were not here. McAdam tired to kill Doctor Gherke."

"Explain." Chapel cut in, moving to her patient's side. Gherke was still breathing, and all of his life signs remained unchanged. No sign of deterioration.

Domanova took a second more to catch his breath. "He had a local paralytic. Looked as if he would inject it-" He made a motion around his throat. "To the trachea. Stop the breathing. I was on guard. We fought, and McAdam managed to get me." Domanova gestured to his left leg. Chapel took a second look and realized just why the Ensign was on the floor.

"Help me get him on one of the beds." Chapel left Gherke's bedside and moved forward. Before she went to Domanova's aid, she stooped to pick up the discarded hypospray. "This is bad news. We need to run a diagnostic, quickly. Help him up."

Between the two of them, they managed to get Domanova to his feet, somewhat, and together they guided him to the next biobed over. By this time, Gherke's aide was sweating profusely. Chapel abandoned his bedside and retrieved a tricorder along with some fresh hypos.

"He needs the counteragent quickly. Ensign, where approximately did he inject you?" Once Domanova had indicated the spot, Chapel dosed him with the counteragent further up the leg. "That should stop the spread, but the paralytic will still take effect in most of the leg and possibly the hip as well. I'm just glad he didn't get this into Gherke. I don't know if his body could have handled the failure in his current condition."

"What do we do about McAdam?" Uhura glanced over at the doctor's body, still on the floor. If he was dangerous, they should do _something_.

"Let's get him in a bed too. I can hazard a guess as to where they keep the restraints."

It was considerably easier moving the doctor's wiry frame. Once McAdam was secured, they turned their attention back to Domanova.

"I have some concerns." Chapel started. It seemed too neat, for starters. McAdam comes in and the Ensign immediately realizes he's after Gherke, shooting to kill? That was unreasonable. Even if McAdam had malicious intent, Domanova had almost no way of knowing unless he could read minds.

"What made you believe Doctor McAdam was trying to kill Doctor Gherke? Other than the evidence we have now, I don't see anything that could have led you to that conclusion." She studied the Ensign carefully. Domanova was definitely experiencing the after effects of the paralytic. Enough had made it through the bloodstream to slow him down, though the counter agent was working quickly to keep him from dropping dead. Chapel had taken a look at the hypo. There was more than enough in there to kill a healthy patient, let alone one who had legally died on the operating table.

Domanova slumped back on the biobed. He would make it, but it looked like he was fading fast. Chapel's impression was confirmed when he sighed deeply and looked at both of them in turn.

"I do not have time to explain all the way… The most important parts only. You will have to take over my position."

"Guarding Gehrke?" Chapel asked. "I think we can handle that well enough."

Domanova shook his head and waved her off. "No, no. The Doctor will have to take backseat concern for now. This base is more dangerous than anything in space."

Uhura frowned and studied the Ensign carefully. He didn't seem to be lying, nor did he have a reason to. What could he gain by telling them this if he was only going to pass out in a few minutes? There'd be no time to give them evidence. It would be his word. She decided this story was definitely worth listening to.

Domanova continued. "Gehrke is investigating… There are reports. A whistleblower on this base- we've received several transmissions, each with evidence. Data erasure, instruments meeting with accidents, even official reports disappearing without so much as a trace." He coughed, trying desperately to get his story out.

The Ensign grabbed Uhura's sleeve. "We suspect… Linois, Pym…Wogan…" He was fading fast. "Find the whistleblower. Use the ventilation system to escape. None… none of the plans are accurate. This base has secrets…"

Domanova grabbed Chapel's sleeve with his free hand. He searched her eyes, looking for… she didn't know what. Soon after, his head hit the pillow and his arms dropped.

Uhura looked up from the unconscious Ensign. She committed the names to memory. They had been important to him. _Linois, Pym, Wogan. These are the suspects. But, of what?_

"Chris, do you have any idea what he was talking about?"

Chapel bit her lip. That was a lot to process. "I don't know what to think! Oh, if only Doctor Gehrke was awake! He could confirm this… this unbelievable story." Chapel looked back at the Doctor, who was not getting up any time soon. They had three unconscious patients, all at odds with each other one way or another.

"I don't understand what that was all about. Is he saying there's some sort of conspiracy? What does any of it have to do with Doctor Gehrke? Is he just a cover? None of this makes sense at all!" She turned to Uhura. There had to be something else to it. How did all of these loose ends tie back together?

Uhura considered what she'd just heard, beyond the fact that she had decided it was likely the truth. Domanova had no reason to lie, and on top of that he had sounded sincere. Disappearing reports? Conflicting evidence? Where had it all come together?

It hit her like a phaser blast. "Starfleet Intelligence! Domanova must be one of their agents, posing as an assistant for Doctor Gehrke. That way, he would have a plausible cover for coming all the way out here. It must've been arranged."

Chapel's eyebrows shot up. Starfleet Intelligence? But, it made sense. Uhura was onto _something,_ even if Chapel didn't trust the information at face value. "Ok. Sure, he's SIS, but what does that have to do with anything else? Who are these people he was talking about? Lenore… Hogan?"

"Linois, Pym, and Wogan." Uhura corrected. "Those names meant a great deal to him. I bet they're his primary suspects for… for sabotage or whatever Starfleet thinks might be going on here. Either that, or they're all shady characters. The whistleblower must have some reason to have included their names. And he didn't tell us who _that_ was, either."

Chapel had to consider that. Uhura clearly believed the Ensign's story, what of it that they'd actually heard. There was missing data, falsified reports, a lot of things at stake for Domanova to act as he did. Stakes high enough to kill…?

Uhura frowned at the unconscious Ensign. He'd given them something, but they had no context for any of this information. What were the reports about? Why did these three want them gone? Was it even all three, or just one? Maybe more… He'd said this base was dangerous. Maybe there were more-

Suddenly, they both came to the same conclusion. "McAdam!"

Of course! He must have slipped past Domanova and the whistleblower, but his behavior was far too suspicious to let alone. He had tried to kill Doctor Gehrke.

"So, Gehrke knows something. What did he know that would warrant a death sentence?" Chapel, dropping all disbelief, pondered the attempted murder. "Did he know as much as Domanova? Maybe he had some sort of information that McAdam and his cohorts didn't want spreading around."

"Or," Uhura jumped in, "Doctor Gehrke might be able to discern these false reports from real ones. He's been working alongside Starfleet for a number of years. He would be able to decipher most anything with enough time. His ear for language-…"

"What? What is it?"

Uhura frowned. "I had something. It's like an itch in the back of my mind. Can't quite get at it, though. Oh! But Domanova said something about an escape didn't he? That might have something to it. If he was right about conspiracy…" There were a number of other things he could be right about. The danger, for one.

"He said the vents. He said the base specs didn't line up to plan, if I got the jist of what he was saying right." Chapel looked up at the air vents overhead. These were a good deal bigger than the ones on a starship, but not so big as to hide something. Not anything substantial. A smaller person could probably crawl through them. Not Domanova, but perhaps…

"We should get a look at his computer, if we can." Uhura broke the silence. It would be good to gather as much information as was possible before they tried to do anything with that metal grate.

"Good idea." Chapel started for the door. "If his office is unlocked, then we're gold. If it's not, well, there's so much we don't know already that this is hardly a loss."

Of course, McAdam had decided to lock up before attempting murder. Not one override Chapel tried gained them entry.

"It's like he was afraid this would happen." Chapel kicked the door for good measure.

"Now, not everything is a conspiracy, Chris. Maybe it locks automatically. We have to keep our heads. If this is all real and we have to decide friend from foe, we'll need to be careful. Do you know where to get some more hyposprays?" Uhura knew that they would be on their own for a while. It wouldn't do them any good to be caught unawares.

"There's a supply closet back that way, past the break room. Maybe we could grab some coffee for the road." Chapel's eyes twinkled at the joke. But, coffee was hardly a laughing matter. They would need to be armed _and_ dangerous after all.

The atmosphere in the empty Sickbay was unnerving to downright eerie. It was quiet except for the sounds of their heels on the flooring. With all of the excitement in the recovery ward, everything else seemed _too_ quiet. The pair stuck together while Chapel tried to locate the supply closet. It was _one_ of these doors, if she knew her layout right. Maybe Domanova had been onto something with his ideas about mismatched plans…

That was funny. The door wouldn't open. Chapel tried the pad on the side of the door, but it was locked with a code. Override didn't work either. She peered through the porthole window.

Every doctor and nurse, _every single one_ , was inside. Only, they weren't moving. Some were slumped on the break room table, others were stretched out on the ground. There was a broken coffee mug in the middle of the floor. One of the chairs had toppled, doctor and all.

Chapel's reaction startled Uhura. As soon as she got a glimpse of the chaos in the break room, she gasped.

"What happened to them? Why is the door locked?" Uhura scanned the room. One of the cabinets looked to be open, and the personnel in the back of the room looked to be sleeping, if not… Something else was wrong with the room, however. Uhura kept trying to place it but- there! Near the ceiling, there was a sort of haze inconsistent with the crisp atmosphere of the rest of the Sickbay.

"Chris, look! There's some sort of smoke trapped at the ceiling. Could this have anything to do with the irregular vents?"

Having been focused on the lower half of the room and the unconscious Medical staff, Chapel hadn't even glanced at the ceiling. Uhura was right. But, it didn't look like any smoke she had ever seen outside the movies. There was a decided blue-ish tint to it. Almost like one of the old smoke bombs her grandfather would set off with the fireworks kit.

"Not smoke, gas! Someone- no, I'd bet McAdam was behind this. Locking his office, trying to kill a patient? He'd have to make sure no one else was around."

That was true. Uhura looked at the remaining gas and thought of something else. "That sounds right, but why didn't he do anything about us? If he was so intent on making sure no one interfered, why didn't he come after you or me?"

There was no way Chapel was going to try the door further. It could just be a type of sedative, but it could be poison all the same. The room was sealed, so that was an unfortunate issue for another time. "Probably it was circumstance. He may have had time to… deal with the break room, but sooner or later Domanova would check out the red alert. I bet McAdam wanted to get the big threat out of the way first."

There had to be something. McAdam's door was locked, every doctor and nurse in the place was unconscious or… worse… and they still needed a way out of here.

"Let's get things from the supply closet and try and figure out what Domanova was talking about." Chapel didn't want to spend any more time near the break room.

After they'd ruled out so many doors, it was simple enough getting the right one. Chapel found everything as it should be, medkits, hyposprays, the works. There were several sets of medical coveralls on the shelves, along with spare boots, gloves and masks.

Chapel loaded up a small medkit. If they were going to be facing conspirators or any other ne'er-do-wells, she'd need an arsenal on her side. After she'd packed as many hyposprays on top of the essentials as she could, Chapel closed the kit. She noticed Uhura standing in the doorway, staring at the floor. "Something on your mind?"

Uhura responded after a moment's pause. "Only what Domanova was saying. I've been trying to commit the details to memory. Other than Linois, Pym, Wogan, and McAdam, we don't have suspects. I don't even know who those other three are. But, we have the clue about the whistleblower, and the ventilation system. If Domanova is right and the base plans are inaccurate, the vents just might be the escape he thought they were. That, and maybe there are more adjustments that don't quite stick to regulation."

She looked up. "We'll have to leave Doctor Gehrke and the others."

Chapel stopped. That hadn't clicked into place until now. She'd be leaving her post, her only duty onboard this station. She was the last one. The personnel in that room fell under her responsibility. If they were alive, it was her job to help them. There was no one else. If McAdam got out of his restraints, he could kill Gehrke and Domanova at any moment. Or, if there was another complication with Gehrke…

"I can't leave them. You'll…" She also couldn't let Uhura go alone. Of course, she was a competent officer and fully capable of taking care of things, but Chapel had a bad feeling about this base. Something was going on. Domanova didn't know everything. There could be more danger than even Uhura could handle.

"Corbett wasn't interested in what I had to say." Uhura spoke up. "He might listen to the both of us. I know two witnesses are better than one. If McAdam locked down the Sickbay just to kill Gehrke, it'll be my word for it unless you come too. I got the distinct feeling that he doesn't care much for Communications Officers." He'd been short with L'Nel too, but L'Nel was one of his own. Corbett was a real character alright, and not one Uhura thought she could take on alone.

They didn't have much to go on. Uhura knew that Chapel would be reluctant to leave a patient for too long, but that might just be their only option. If something else was going on here, they may very well have to track down the Captain.

"I know it's not the best option, but it's the only one I think we have to work with. If one of the others, Linois or one of them, gets to Corbett before us, they could spin a story to explain all of this away. If we're there to give our side, then at least we're giving Gehrke and Domanova a chance."

Chapel hadn't even considered the fact that it might come to a debate. She'd heard about Corbett, but Uhura was the only one of them who had met the Commodore. If she thought he might not believe her…

"Well, we'll have to be quick about it. Once we get through the vents, could you get us to the Commodore's office?"

Uhura nodded. "We took the main hallways and I paid attention. If we end up somewhere familiar, I could get us to the offices in no time. We'll just have to keep track of our direction in the vents."

"Sounds good to me." Chapel put on the medkit and grabbed a spare tricorder. "You'd better have this, just in case we run into someone and I need an extra pair of hands." If there was a grand coup going on and McAdam and his people were taking out the opposition, they'd need every advantage.

They headed back into the recovery ward. Domanova had said the vents, but which vents? These seemed the most likely candidates. The recovery ward was small and seldom used on starbases unless there was a major surgery. It would be a sensible place to hide alterations.

"How should we get it off? Is there-" Chapel stopped short when she realized that Uhura already had two of the screws loose and was working on the third.

"Hairpins. More useful that you'd think." Uhura had bent one all the way open and slid the flat end in the slit on the head of the screw. She was twisting the other end when the pin suddenly snapped.

Chapel felt around her hairdo until she located a replacement. "Here. Have this one."

"Thanks." Uhura got the third screw loose, then the fourth. The grate was off in a flash.

Uhura took a look inside. It was dusty, dark, and dangerous looking. Whoever had expanded the vent hadn't done a thorough job of smoothing out the edges.

"Well, here goes nothing." She looked at Chapel over her shoulder before starting inside. The vent was too small for someone like Domanova to squeeze into, but they might be able to manage. Uhura flicked on the tricorder light and tried to navigate. She could hear Chapel bumping around and grumbling behind her. One thump sounded an awful lot like a head hitting the ceiling. This was no time for laughter.

"If we keep heading down the central shaft, we should find a fork and be able to come out near the main hallway. I can guide us from there." The tricorder was picking up some unusual signals, but other than that, the vents looked pretty straightforward. Which, now that she thought about it, was wrong. Uhura took her eyes off the screen just long enough to catch it.

"Chris! Stop!" Uhura leaned back from the steep drop. She didn't know how it had happened, but the tricorder had been tricked. At the last second, she had realized that the vents shouldn't read out as regulation when she could see with her own two eyes that they weren't. What was going on here?

"What's the matter? Did we hit another grate?"

"No, worse. There's another shaft here. It goes straight down." Uhura held her tricorder out over the gap. The light didn't reach the bottom, but she found something else. "Looks like someone installed a ladder here."

"That doesn't make sense! Why didn't it pick up on your tricorder?"

Uhura took another look at the readings. Something seemed off, but the readings read out regulation height, width, and depth for the ventilation system. "I can't say. There must be something interfering with my scans. Maybe whoever modified the vents set something up so no one can tell the adjustments were made."

Chapel bit her lip. That made sense, but she was concerned. If they couldn't rely on their instruments, what clue did they have for getting around? Domanova had been right, the base wasn't built to specs, but how would they be able to tell if enough reconstruction had been done and covered up?

"What do you think?" Chapel couldn't see the ladder or the drop, but if Uhura had stopped so abruptly, it must be a long fall.

Uhura considered the distance they'd already come and made up her mind. "I say we should go for it. Better to see this through to the end than give up halfway." She repositioned the tricorder and turned to get a foothold on the ladder. The rungs were steady. Whoever had built this little tunnel had done it soundly.

"I'll be sure to tell you if there's anything dangerous at the bottom."

Chapel's frown deepened. "Oh, thanks. Very considerate." If there was something at the other end, she still had the medkit. It was starting to look like she'd need it for her legs. The tunnel-carver hadn't considered actually crawling the thing when they'd built it. Then again, they probably hadn't made the trip in tights and heels…

Once Uhura was far enough down the ladder, Chapel started after her. It seemed like a shorter distance than she had anticipated. Once they were back on level ground, Uhura found another grate. She pulled the handle to the side and it slid open easily. So, not everything was going to be an uphill climb…

Uhura took the lead again. With her tricorder, she could see a fair distance ahead. Fortunately, light wasn't an issue in this grate. There was a glow up ahead and around the corner. Once she'd turned, Uhura could see another grate. It led into a regular hallway. Regular, except for the sudden eruption of phaser fire. Uhura moved back, accidentally hitting Chapel with her boot.

"Oof! Don't tell me there's another-"

"Shh! Chris!"

They waited just around the bend until the noise stopped. Phaser fire meant something else was happening in this base. Maybe McAdam's cronies had made a move on the rest of the base. They would have to check.

"Stay back a little ways, in case we have to turn and run." Uhura figured it was likely as anything that they'd run into trouble. They certainly weren't going to help out any of the conspirators. That would be reason enough for some aggression.

Uhura crawled forward slowly, keeping balance on her hands and knees only so her boots wouldn't bang against the vent interior. As she got closer to the grate, she could make out some voices echoing in the hallway. They sounded familiar enough, but the acoustics were making it harder to place them.

She arrived at the grate long before Chapel, and peeked through to get a read on the situation. Her heart soared when she spotted Doctor McCoy and L'Nel, but she noticed they were bent over a figure she didn't recognize. Someone injured in the firefight, perhaps? Now that she though about it, shouldn't there be more people in this hallway? Commodore Corbett was there too, with a large rifle…

_"You may see to your patient. There's a safe room in the offices that the senior officers have holed up in. Your Captain and the Commander are taking shelter there. L'Nel can help you carry your… patient. I'll lead the way."_

She breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Corbett was on their side. With his horrible attitude, she had suspected him of being one of the troublemakers. Why, she wouldn't put it past him to do underhanded things like what Domanova had described…

Chapel arrived just behind her and tired to get a look at the hallway.

"What's happening out there? Can we go through?" She whispered, a little too far back to see anything.

"I think so. Doctor McCoy and L'Nel-"

Uhura's eyes widened. She turned sharply and ushered Chapel back into the shadows. They had to move. She managed to drag her legs out of the light just in time. Before Chapel could ask what was happening, a shadow passed over the grate. The figure could not see far inside, but Uhura and Chapel could see the face clearly.

Purple skin, light eyes, and the barrel of an alien weapon blocked the view of the hallway. Outside, Uhura could hear a shrill buzzing, and the Commodore's pained shout. So close to the grate, she could hear other things as well.

_"Stop it! What are you people doing?"_

_"Doctor, it would be best if we cooperated."_

More buzzing. Uhura was surprised. She recognized the patterns from L'Nel's mysterious signals. But, that wasn't all. There were sounds of a scuffle, then a protest cut short. Unmistakably McCoy's.

Chapel put a hand to her mouth. They would have to be silent, regardless.

After another eternity, the figure moved away from the grate and retreated back down the hallway. For a long time, neither Uhura nor Chapel dared to move. Several minutes of tense inaction. Then, Chapel broke the silence with a hitched gasp.

"What do we do, Nyota?"

Uhura paused. Her whole plan of action had been upended by the being with the gun. Beings. There were more. This was an invasion. But, she had her names and some new information, too. She'd heard it straight out of Corbett's mouth that the Captain and Mister Spock were holed up in the main offices. They would have more information on the intruders and what their plans were.

"One thing, Chris. We go after them."


	7. Chapter 7

Nothing. He would tell them nothing.

They'd commandeered the conference rooms. The larger spaces were used to house prisoners. Initially, they'd been separated by division, but the intruders were quick. Sooner than expected, the officers were identified and separated from the rest of the Starbase's crew.

134? Was that the number? Before he'd been dragged out, he'd tried to do a headcount. Only about forty in his room. Not everyone was there. The faces he knew weren't there, besides one. The mission could continue. There was hope left in this yet.

Right now, he was concerned about the marked absence of doctors. Not so much as one medical tunic had been spotted. Not by himself, or anyone he'd interviewed. Some of the earlier captures had noticed. They'd also told him what to prepare for.

The shock came again, made nastier by whatever chemical his captors kept applying. He didn't understand the questions. Whatever language they spoke sounded more like the distant thrumming of an engine than the kinds of words he was used to. He'd tried reasoning with them. They had listened, but they didn't seem to understand. The language barrier was huge.

Staying conscious was important. He'd gather as much information as he could. Descriptions, durations of the shocks, nuances in the chain of command. The tallest one, the one with additional stripes down the center of their uniform, was the leader. All the requests passed that way.

He locked eyes with the leader. There seemed to be anger and frustration in the expression. Maybe because of the interrogation, maybe something else. Strapped to the table as he was, there was some difficulty in reading that face. He caught a fleeting glimpse of _despair_.

Spock might know what to make of it. For now, Kirk would take another shock.

//*\\\

As soon as it was safe, Uhura led the way out of the vent. The hallway had long since been emptied. All that was left to show that anything had happened here was a stray phaser burn on the wall.

She dusted off her skirt and helped Chapel out of the vent.

" _Oof-_ Thanks. I bet whoever designed that vent never had to crawl through it in tights." There was a sizeable hole forming in the fabric around one of her kneecaps. The other one looked close to tearing.

"And heels." Uhura said. "Sure, they're just fine until you're trying to be quiet. I'm surprised I didn't bang the side of the vent. Then, we'd be in real hot water." The same hot water McCoy and Lieutenant L'Nel were in. As soon as they found the Captain and Spock, Uhura planned on mounting a rescue.

According to the Commodore, the _Enterprise's_ COs were taking shelter in the main offices. By her best guess, Uhura supposed they were in the right area. Commodore Corbett's sudden appearance backed up her theory. The big door had to be a back access point.

That was another thing. The more she thought about it, the more Uhura realized that the layout of this Starbase was very different from any she had visited before. The hallways followed a similar pattern, but something about the rooms… Domonova had proved to be right about the vents. Who knows what other kinds of modifications were hiding around here?

"I say we try the door first." Uhura made her way over to the keypad. If this was a standard entrance, there would be a standard code. So, Corbett was all pomp and circumstance without any substance after all. She punched in triple 9s and waited. After a second, she tried it again. Frowning, Uhura waited for the door. The panel hadn't given her a negative response, so she assumed it must be working. This was frustrating. She angrily punched in three 9s again and to her surprise, the door slid open.

_Triple triple 9s. I could slap that man._

"Chris, I've got it!" They hurried through the door. The great thing slammed behind them, and Uhura could hear the locking mechanism grinding back into place. That was one heavy door.

Chapel looked around the interior of the office section. It was just as bland as the rest of the base. Didn't anyone here believe in wall art? At least put up a plaque. This was hideous. But, they didn't have time to nit-pick the interior decorating. Uhura motioned for her to follow her down the biggest hallway. She'd been here before. She could find Corbett's office faster.

The first people they found weren't the Captain and Mister Spock. Uhura stopped short as a different pair rounded the corner up ahead. A darker-skinned man with close-cropped hair came barreling around the corner with a phaser. He had ablue tunic and the stripes of a Lieutenant Commander, but beyond that no identification. Close behind him was a taller woman with hair almost as short. There were no rank stripes on standard-issue coveralls, so there was nothing to be learned there. She also seemed more put-together than her companion was, but she wasn't the one waving the phaser around.

"Linois, are they _Enterprise?_ " The woman murmured to her colleague, but Chapel heard. Linois. She didn't need to confirm with Uhura. Chapel knew that name. It could be that these two were carrying out the rest of McAdam's plan, or they could just be trying to figure all of this out. Either way, Chapel had to make sure Linois didn't get trigger happy.

She took a deep breath, ran forward, and threw her arms around the gun-toting Lieutenant Commander.

"Oh _thank goodness_ we found you!" Chapel let a hysterical note color her words. If these two were up to something, playing dumb might be beneficial. If they were innocent, Chapel didn't care what they thought of her. "I was _so worried_ they'd taken everyone on the base!" Maybe if she could work up some tears she could _really_ sell this.

Linois seemed to be at a loss. He lowered his phaser and hesitantly raised a hand to pat her shoulder. "It's… Everything's under control. The offices are secure."

Uhura saw the look of desperation pass from Linois to his companion, but he wasn't getting any help from her. She smirked before turning towards Uhura. Chapel's scheme seemed to be working, so playing along looked like the order of the day.

"We got locked out of Sickbay." Uhura lied. "The alarms were blaring and we had no idea what was happening! Oh, it was horrible!" She wrung her hands dramatically. It looked like the newcomers were buying it. The lady hadn't been introduced, but Uhura would bet her bottom dollar that this was either Pym or Wogan. Unless, of course, the whistleblower didn't know about everyone and this was a bigger conspiracy than they had expected.

Chapel finally disengaged from Linois' arms and started wiping her tears. She'd managed to work up a little cry, nothing too major. "I'm s-sorry. It was just so awful!"

Linois looked like he'd just eaten something unpleasant. "No worries, Miss uh… It's fine. You're safe in the offices. We've got everything locked down." Uhura noticed when he put the last couple of pieces together. "Say, how did you two get in here?"

She jumped to Chapel's aid on this one. "Oh, that nice young Lieutenant gave me the code when we got locked out of Sickbay. He and Doctor McCoy told us this would be the safest place. But, I'm so glad we found someone else here." Uhura gave them her winningest smile. She didn't like the looks of either of them. It certainly felt like they were plotting, what with the sneaking around. She couldn't say for sure, but something was off here.

Linois' companion spoke up at last. "Well, you two had better wait in one of the inner offices. You might get in the way of the defense effort." She didn't look too happy to be handling this.

"Defense effort?" Chapel sniffled and looked between the two of them. "What's going on?"

Linois stepped back in to end this as quickly as possible. "Nothing you should worry your little head about. We're taking care of it. You should go to the… Maybe the break room? They can't g- I mean, they'll be safest there, right Wogan?"

Wogan it was then. Now, Uhura was really on her guard. Two confirmed conspirators in the same place, doing their best to get bystanders out of their business? That was too much. She hadn't been certain before now, but the whistleblower had been right about the schematics _and_ about the character (at least what she had observed) of two of the crew. There was something to all this conspiracy talk after all.

"We'll go right there! Thank you so much!" Uhura beamed at them again. Maybe once they were out of sight, some real investigating could be done.

"Oh, one more thing!" Chapel interjected before Linois and Wogan could get a move on. "Our Captain and First Officer are somewhere in here. Have you seen them?" She'd almost forgotten about them, with all of this playacting.

Wogan frowned. "They're not here. They were the first ones to leave. You better stay put, though, if you don't want to end up like- injured, or worse." With that slip freshly laid out for their consideration, Wogan grabbed Linois' arm and steered him down the hallway. Uhura's eyebrows rose as she watched them leave.

"How they've kept anything hidden from the crew, I have no idea."

Chapel snorted and rolled her eyes. "Maybe that's how the whistleblower knew who to rat out. Those two are about as subtle as a phaser rifle."

"That… Well, that seems a little too easy, doesn't it?" Uhura stared off down the hallway. "I mean, not exactly _easy_ , but… They don't seem like the kind of people who would be in charge of a something like this. Whatever this is. Oh Chris, we're working on nothing here!"

It was true, they didn't have much to go on. Chapel checked over her shoulder one more time to make sure they really weren't being monitored. The coast was clear.

"We've got the weird signals, three names, and blueprints that don't line up like they should. I can say we've gotten by with less."

"Yes." Uhura countered, "But we're definitely outnumbered. That, and you heard what Wogan said! However the Captain and Mister Spock 'ended up', it wasn't good. If the situation was in hand, Linois and Wogan wouldn't be running! Doctor McCoy and L'Nel wouldn't have been captured!"

Chapel detected the underlying note of hysteria in Uhura's voice, and she couldn't say she wasn't feeling the same. This was a fine kettle of fish. Outnumbered, outgunned, and completely clueless as to what was going on here, they didn't have too many options.

"Well, we have to do _something._ " Chapel huffed. She stopped at the next fork in the hallway. "Nyota, say Captain Kirk was here. What's the craziest thing he could do right now?"

Uhura stopped and turned. "Run out and face the enemy. And he's already done that."

"Alright. Say you're Spock. What would you advise?"

"I'd say not to go."

"But the Captain talked him into it." Chapel let her gaze wander down the corridor. Spock had been convinced. "If he could get Spock to go, then it had to have been the only good idea."

"Or the only obvious solution." Uhura countered. "Play it safe. What would Doctor McCoy insist they do?"

"To put it colloquially, 'Not a blasted thing'. Unless there were injured." Sighing, Chapel leaned against the corner of the wall. "But none of them are here, and on top of that, everything they did got them into trouble. How do we stay one step ahead of whatever's going on out there if we don't even know _what's_ going on out there?"

Uhura looked to be lost in thought. She was staring absently at the carpet, trailing a finger on the edge of her cheek. "If I were a security station," she murmured, "where would I be?"

Chapel crossed her arms and looked down both hallways. A Security Station would be nice, but they could get the most information in one of the offices. Suddenly it hit her. Where had Uhura been already and what office did they know for sure wasn't in use?"

"Can you get us to Corbett's office from here?" Chapel gestured to the fork. "Does this section of the hallway look familiar?"

Uhura's eyes lit up with recognition. "Yes, yes it does! I think if we take the right and then the next left we see, I should be able to get us to the right doorway. That is… Well, that is if there aren't any guards still on duty."

Chapel nodded. "Lead the way. If they're still hanging around, we can ask them what the heck is going on around here!"

"Right." Uhura got going down the right fork of the hallway, then took her left, and made a few more turn before she stopped in front of a big metal door.

"Commodore Corbett, alright." The plate outside the door said as much. Chapel put her hands on her hips and scanned the rest of the hallway. There was no one here. Not a soul. That was suspicious as anything, she decided. "Now, how do we get in?"

'Well, if we're lucky, he left it unlocked when he went to go get Doctor McCoy and L'Nel. Maybe he even had a security feed hooked up to his computer console. That would be some kind of break." Uhura stepped up to the door and it swooshed open.

"That's some kind of luck." Chapel stated, wondering at the kind of security they had around here. Uhura had mentioned guards… Maybe things were worse than they thought, if conditions were this lax where security was concerned.

Uhura entered the room and went straight to Corbett's computer. It seemed as if he'd left his office in an awful hurry. PADDs were scattered on the desk, and it looked like he had three different programs running at his desk. Uhura reached for the closest PADD and took a glance. Some kind of requisitions form for coolant, ready to be approved. Next PADD. This one was more interesting. It was a request for computer maintenance in one of the atrsometrics labs.

"Do you think this has something to do with the missing data?" Uhura handed the PADD over to Chapel and turned her attention back to the computer console. Corbett _had_ been monitoring a couple of security feeds. Of the four-way split, one was the hallway they'd just been in, one looked to be the cargo bay, and the next one…

Uhura gasped and isolated the feed. Hearing her, Chapel rounded the desk and stood at her shoulder.

"Those are… That has to be a conference room."

"I think so, Chris. It's the only room big enough that isn't a cargo hold…"

The feed broadcast- in perfect clarity- a conference room stuffed with people. Wall to wall, there were figures sitting, kneeling, and tending to the wounded. There were wounded. From what Uhura could tell, it was all Security personnel, or Operations people. She couldn't find any indication that either the Captain or Mister Spock was there with them, but she did recognize one of the guards from earlier sitting up against the wall. About half of the visible crewmembers sported injuries, while the other half looked to be trying to alleviate some of the pain any way they could.

"What happened to all of them?" Chapel's gaze was locked onto the screen. "They can't have all been captured already, could they? Sickbay's only been on lockdown for about an hour at most… That's… There's hardly enough time…"

It was incredible, how efficiently these invaders had been working. She could see a few now, entering through a side door. They were armed, and they carried a man in red between them. Several of his comrades rushed forward to help as he was deposited on the floor near the doorway. Just as quickly and quietly as they had come, the aliens vanished.

Chapel couldn't say she knew more about them than she'd already observed, but one thing was clear: The crew was being interrogated.


	8. Chapter 8

Other than the bruise surely forming on his shoulder, McCoy was all right. Oh, he wasn't in the least pleased with this sudden turn of events, but he was 'OK'.

Corbett had been stunned straight away. It was good chess, taking out the guy with the big ol' gun. Only it turned out the Commodore was a heavy son-of-a-gun, and his two guards were having a time of it.

McCoy kept an eye on his 'patient' out of habit. Everything seemed to be well, no dizziness, balance problems, or the like. The buzzing that had proven to be their language remained isolated to the patient and the intruder in charge. He supposed he oughta be grateful, seeing as how his patient had put in a good word for him. Whichever one of them that had hit him was soon halted. No more rough treatment for him or L'Nel. Small miracles.

The party hadn't been going for very long when they came to a sudden stop. There was a doorway on the right side of the hall. L'Nel wasn't saying anything helpful, so McCoy assumed the room must be pretty benign.

Turns out, they were both wrong.

The doors opened to reveal a sickening scene. Something slick coated the floor, the walls, and every scrap of furniture in the room. All the paneling in the room had been busted open and spliced. There were wires everywhere. The first thing McCoy saw wasn't the group of aliens huddled around the conference table. It was the only seated figure that caught his eye. And even then, the injury catalog came second. In the split second between the time the doors opened and the time he bolted, McCoy only had one thing on his mind.

"Jim!" He was off before any of his guards could stop him. It must be his luck that none of them had expected him to make a break for it. A moment later and he was at Jim's side. The injuries, though unusual to find in a conference room of all things, weren't particularly grisly. Just a series of electrical and thermal burns all over Jim's arms, neck, and face. The scary part was, he didn't seem to be conscious.

McCoy arrived by the side of the chair and began cataloging. There was a hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off.

"Jim, can you hear me? Where does it hurt? Say something!" When Jim didn't respond, McCoy went for his medical kit. The intruders hadn't taken it for whatever reason. Maybe his old patient had explained. Still, Jim wasn't giving him any good signs. For all he knew, his friend was down for the count. And there were worse options that didn't need thinking about.

He grabbed a hypospray and incited a barrage of squeaks and hums, which he tuned out immediately. There was no reason to ask what had happened. It didn't make a difference whether or not he understood these folks. McCoy recognized torture when he saw it, and he wasn't about to let them start this all again. Not without treating Jim.

It seemed like the noise had died down somewhat. McCoy dove for the rest of that tube of burn cream, and started applying liberal amounts to Jim's skin. The intruders didn't make any move to stop him. Maybe… Maybe they _wanted_ him to help. It occurred to him that they may not have been trying to kill Jim, whatever it was they were doing.

"Dermal abrasions… Too much for two hands- L'Nel! Get over here and give me a hand!"

McCoy didn't turn, but L'Nel spoke up from the other side of the room. "I would, Doctor, but do not believe I am permitted to move."

At that, McCoy had to look. As much trust as was given to him, it wasn't extended to L'Nel. The Lieutenant had his hands clasped behind his head, and his guards had their strange guns pointed right at him. _Of course this couldn't be easy._

McCoy sighed and stood up. "Now all y'all can calm down a mite, he's not doin' anything dangerous." When the situation didn't change, McCoy switched tactics. He strode over to where L'Nel was being thoroughly guarded, grabbed the kid's elbow, and made to drag him back to where Jim was.

The initial buzzing died down pretty quick once the intruders saw where this was headed. McCoy had L'Nel apply additional burn cream and hold back Jim's sleeve when the Doctor decided it had to come off at the elbow.

"Leaving it rolled up like that'll only irritate things later." McCoy cast the damp sleeve aside and went to work on the other one. "If we get him bandaged up, he should be fine. Well, provided they don't do this again." After giving half the room a withering glare, McCoy tied off the end of the bandage.

L'Nel was methodically applying burn cream, but he kept glancing around the small room. "Doctor…" He began after a moment, "I have a hypothesis."

Acting as if nothing was amiss, McCoy continued his work. "Lay it on me, kid. For all we know, they can't understand us anyhow. Just make it look like you're asking for directions."

L'Nel inclined his head. "The exposed wiring and the nature of Captain Kirk's injuries suggest some sort of electrical experimentation. I do not know what information they wished to gain from this procedure, but it is clear that these injuries were sustained here."

McCoy grunted, but the implications weren't good. "And the thermal burns? Did he get them in the firefight?"

L'Nel shook his head slightly. "I did not notice evidence of such injuries on the Commodore, but we will not have the opportunity to check. He was taken further along the corridor shortly after we entered this room."

Corbett wasn't anywhere around, that much was certain. McCoy scanned the room, only to find odd containers and that strange goo covering everything. Now that he thought about it, the stuff was all over Jim's sleeve. McCoy checked and sure enough, it was all up in Jim's hair too. Whatever it was, he'd been slathered in it.

"I wonder…" L'Nel was pretty certain about the electrical burns. It was a reasonable hypothesis, all things considered. The wires fit. This species was certainly advanced enough to understand circuitry. But the goo? It didn't seem to have any healing properties. Jim's burns looked just as red and angry as any others. None of the aliens were having anything to do with the leftover liquid either.

McCoy tied off the last bandage and got out adhesive strips for Jim's face. Before he knew it, he was being dragged back from the chair. It looked like he was finished, whether he liked it or not.

"Hey! I can't just leave him like this! He's not even conscious! Are you listening to me? His condition could deteriorate if I'm not-"

His protests fell on deaf ears, drums, or whatever this species used to process sound. They dragged McCoy out, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he fought them tooth and nail. One of the rearguards picked up his medical kit. L'Nel was escorted quietly.

McCoy wasn't harmed, but two of the burlier guards had him sandwiched immobile between them. He was a _doctor_ , blast it all, not some sort of machine whose functions you could switch on and off. He told them so. They didn't seem to hear.

Wherever they were going next, it looked to be similar to the other room. McCoy braced himself for another disaster, another injured body lying in a puddle of alien sludge. Fleetingly, he imagined science blues and pointed ears before the group leader pressed the button for entry.

The doors opened to reveal the spotless, empty officer's mess. McCoy sagged with relief. On the one hand, he didn't have any more wounds to tend to, but on the other he still didn't know what had happened to Spock, or any of the rest of the missing personnel. One of the guards said something. McCoy didn't pick it up, but the alien's body language made a clear point.

"I guess this is the cooler, then." He groused.

L'Nel blinked before giving him that raised-eyebrow look that the Vulcans had to be practicing in the mirror.

McCoy just sighed and made to clarify. "This appears to be our stop-"

A hand appeared between his shoulder blades and shoved him through the doorway. L'Nel made to follow, but was apprehended before he could cross the threshold. They were going to shut him in here, and take the only person who knew anything about this crazy starbase to goodness-knows-where. Maybe even to… to whatever had happened to Jim.

"Waitaminute!" McCoy lunged forward and grappled with L'Nel's captors. "You can't!"

They were fending him off nicely. Before the rest of the party had a chance to step in, McCoy managed to get a hand on L'Nel's arm. The Lieutenant had landed in a very serious game of tug-o-war.

"Doctor, I do not-" The intruders were taking this personally. McCoy resolved to not let go unless they could pry the Lieutenant from his cold, dead hands, but it didn't reach that point.

A shrill buzzing shot out from down the hallway, and L'Nel's handlers let go. Stumbling back, McCoy put himself between the Vulcan and the door. It was his job as a doctor to do no harm, and prevent harm if he could.

"Now don't you dare get goin' on about any of this bein' illogical, or I'll tan your hide."

"Was not the purpose of this display to keep me from sustaining injuries?"

"Hush up, you! I think we're getting' a caller."

The group of guards parted from the doorway to let in a taller, more regal looking alien than McCoy had seen thus far. This was a stately being with a more decorative uniform. He could go out on a limb to say this was their leader. The big boss.

This one buzzed at him. McCoy supposed it had to be some sort of question. There was no inflection to go off of, but nobody was rushing him. Maybe this was a negotiation.

Not knowing what else to do, McCoy started talking and gesturing. "Now look here," He began, straightening up to his full height. He was still considerably shorter than the newcomer. "You can't have him. If there are more injured like J- like The Captain in there, then I need another set of hands."

The Leader didn't respond, just sort of blinked at him. Two sets of eyelids.

This was going nowhere. McCoy looked around for something to explain with. The medkit! One of the cowering guards still had it with him. Holding his hands out in a non-violent sort of gesture, McCoy slid over and wrestled the medkit away. He returned and displayed it to the alien Leader.

"You know I use this to heal people." McCoy turned and pressed the kit into L'Nel's hands. "I need him to do it too."

They were studied for a long moment, before the big boss stepped forward. McCoy made to defend L'Nel again, but he stopped halfway. The Leader was mimicking his gesture from earlier. No harm to be done? He swallowed and stepped back. Best give peaceful negotiations a chance.

The Leader stepped forward and gave L'Nel some odd head inclination. L'Nel stood still for a moment before returning the gesture. Taking that as a sign, the Leader reached forward and gently grabbed the front of L'Nel's shirt. Perplexed, McCoy just watched. Carefully, the Leader pulled out and upwards on the Lieutenant's red shirt.

"I think you're to hand that over." McCoy realized.

Sure enough, as soon as L'Nel made to take off his outer tunic, the Leader stepped back to give him some room. The Lieutenant finished quickly and was left in a long-sleeved black undershirt. McCoy supposed this starbase must be a lot colder than Vulcan, especially for someone who may not have had enough time to acclimate to human-normal conditions.

L'Nel bundled up his uniform top and held it out. "Is this what you require?"

The Leader took the shirt and made that same head gesture. The guards stood at attention as their superior returned to them, paying close attention to whatever was happening at that end. That was it. L'Nel was able to stay in exchange for his shirt. McCoy couldn't make heads of tails of it, but apparently the shirt was good for something. The Leader was giving some sort of instructions based on L'Nel's sleeves. He had a lieutenant's stripes, but beyond that, there was nothing particularly educational about the garment.

McCoy took the reprieve as an opportunity to examine his charge. L'Nel looked whole, and as unshaken as any Vulcan.

"That was close. I thought for sure they were gonna drag you off for some electrical exposure of your own." McCoy shuddered at the idea. He still wished there was something he could do for Jim, but even if he managed to get out of the officer's mess, he wasn't sure where they were keeping their prisoners.

L'Nel was silent for a moment. When he spoke, there was an underlying tension in his voice. "Doctor, I believe the price for my safety may have been too high."

"What?" McCoy looked at him incredulously. "You're saying you'd rather be tortured than lose your shirt? It's not that cold in here is it? What kind of fool thing-"

" _Doctor._ " The Lieutenant sounded very much like Spock just then. McCoy's comment was cut off. L'Nel pointed at the huddle of intruders in the doorway. "You see how they are examining my sleeves. It is reasonable to hypothesize that they want information, and that we have given them the clue they need to obtain it."

McCoy stared at the mob. His heart sank. "You mean…?"

"Indeed, Doctor. It may have been a coincidence that we found your Captain in his condition, but now they know how to identify our officers, and that they bear significance."

They could only watch as the guards passed through the door before engaging the room's locking mechanism.

"It seems they have learned how to operate our control panels as well." L'Nel watched the door silently. McCoy grabbed a chair and nearly fell into it.

"We… I thought…" He remembered Jim, the dark room, and all those burns. "What have I done?"

//*\\\

"We've got to call someone."

Uhura stared hard at the screen, trying to make sense of all this. How had the base been overrun so quickly? "Yes, but the nearest ship is the _Sophie_ , and- nothing against Captain Lauriston- but I don't think her ship will be able to handle them."

"What?"

"Their ship. It's the one that crippled the _Enterprise_. It has to be. Who else is in the area with unheard of technology? Whoever they are, they're the ones who showed up in that big spherical ship."

Chapel looked back at the screen. That made sense. Still, they had to do something. "Well, can we put in a subspace call to Starfleet Command? And if we can't, then can we hail Captain Lauriston and have her get backup?"

Uhura nodded, still pondering the distressing picture onscreen. Surely Commodore Corbett had his office surveillance system hooked up to monitor something useful. She switched back to the four-panel mode and stopped. Someone was moving around the cargo bay. If the whole base was on lockdown, then who had the clearance or ingenuity to be moving freely about?

"What do we have here…?" Uhura murmured and switched to the full screen shot of the cargo bay. Chapel moved in to get a closer look.

"Well I'll be!" The nurse exclaimed in typical McCoy fashion. "Would you look at that?"

It almost wasn't surprising. Now they knew why Linois and Wogan were in such a hurry. The two could be clearly identified through the feed, and they were moving along like they hadn't a care in the world.

"Let me see if this camera does tracking…" Uhura shifted in front of the console and started adjusting the viewport controls. After a second, the video feed responded, and Uhura spun the camera to follow the two retreating officers.

Chapel watched all of this over her shoulder. "Can you see where they're headed?"

Uhura pressed another button. "Hang on. Wait- I've got them." She leaned to the side so Chapel could see Linois and Wogan, as well as their destination.

"A shuttle? Looks like it's grounded and slated for repairs." She leaned closer to the screen and Uhura had to guide her back.

"Leave some room for me, Chris. Look, I can zoom in." Uhura toggled the camera controls, and they could now see Linois and Wogan unlocking and entering the broken down shuttle.

Chapel snorted. "Some help they are, hiding out in a place no one's going to check. If I wasn't so sure they were conspirators, I'd say they were just a couple of cowards looking for a good place to ride this out."

Uhura turned sharply from the screen. "Say that again!"

"What?" Chapel made a face. "That Linois and Wogan are no-good, lowlife-"

"No! Before that. This is a hiding place…"

"… And no one's going to check it. Nyota, you're a genius!" Chapel turned back to the console. "Dollars to donuts that they're hiding something in there."

"Something they don't want anyone stumbling upon by accident. Come on. I say we should go check it out."

Uhura got up from behind Corbett's desk and made her way towards the door. Chapel watched after her.

"You're serious. Don't you think we should do a little more research? Maybe we need to look and see where the intruders are patrolling."

Pausing at the door, Uhura looked back grinning. "If Linois and Wogan are the cowards you and I think they are, I doubt that they would even think about taking the dangerous route towards anything."

Chapel frowned. "That's not… That doesn't mean- If this is important, they might risk it anyway!"

"Then so will we!" Uhura stepped through the doorway. "Come on, Chris. We don't have time to lose!"

Sighing, Chapel rounded the desk and followed Uhura out. "I swear, I'll never yell at Doctor McCoy for following the Captain's _harebrained schemes_ again!"


	9. Chapter 9

The shuttle bay was empty. Chapel pointedly ignored Uhura's look. Just because they had made it safe and sound this far…

It wasn't hard to find the right shuttle. One of the engines wasn't even attached. Uhura marveled at the brilliance of it- Linois and Wogan hiding in the last place anyone would think was important.

"Nyota!" Chapel hissed. "What are we going to do now? We can't just go up there and say 'Oh gosh b'golly! We sure did get lost now didn't we'! They'll shoot us on sight!"

Uhura shook her head. "I have a feeling that's not going to be an issue. Look." She pointed at the docking rig set up to keep the shuttle in place. "Doesn't that seem odd to you?"

"No." Chapel frowned. "Should it?"

"Look at the coupling. Someone's pumping power into that shuttle. It looks like a lot more than low-level computer systems or repair equipment would need."

Chapel's eyebrows rose. "What if that's not a shuttle at all? What if that's a computer in disguise?"

"I hadn't thought of that." Uhura moved forward and studied the door. "I don't think it's locked though. Maybe…" She scanned the immediate area and found a sizeable toolbox. "Grab something heavy. We're going in."

"Finally. A plan I can get behind." Chapel delivered the line deadpan, but as far as their options went, this was unfortunately the best.

They took up their positions next to the shuttle door. Uhura started counting backwards from three. When she was finished, they'd rush inside, charging into whatever danger Linois and Wogan had concealed within. Simple as that, right?

"Three! Go!" Uhura led the charge, leaping through the fast opening door.

It was empty.

Chapel lowered her enormous soldering coil. "Well, that's disappointing. They must've gone when we were on our way." She started toward the pilot's chair. "It's not even that great of a hiding place…"

Uhura was less than thrilled that they hadn't come across something important. She was sure that there was something more to this. The clues were there. The strange generator, the suspicious behavior… It all had to add up to _something_.

"Now that's odd."

Uhura's ears perked up. Chapel had found something.

"What is it?" The control panel didn't look too odd, the only difference from a regular shuttle was the lack of steering apparatus. That, and there were several panels missing from the setup.

"That this thing is docked for steering repair, but they've bolted it to the ground. Why would they need to do that if it wouldn't fly in the first place?"

Internally, Uhura was doing a victory dance. There _was_ something suspicious about this shuttle, beyond the fact that two suspected conspirators had been using it as a hideout.

"There might be more clues. Let's have a good look around before we do anything else." Uhura began with the area around the control panel. She swept the wiring system for signs of tampering and examined all the readout displays for some indication as to where that power was being diverted.

"Do you think we're in over our heads?"

Uhura stopped. She turned around to find Chapel leaning over the destroyed console. The Head Nurse's face was stuck frowning.

"What do you mean?"

Chapel sighed. "I mean, do you think we ought to just call Captain Lauriston for backup? We have no idea what's going on here. There's an invasion, all of our commanding officers are missing or captured or…" She paused. "I'm worried we might not be enough."

Uhura understood where Chapel was coming from. She remembered a time where Captain Kirk had dragged her away from her safe position at the communications console and put her in command of the ship while he went down for shore leave with Scotty and Doctor McCoy. The command had been uneventful, but the entire time, Uhura had been sweating in her seat. The Captain had said she was a capable officer, and she believed him, but character and command were two different things.

Yes, she could understand where Chapel was coming from. But, she had learned something else that day: Responsibility wasn't just about the weight of everyone relying on you, it was about your own confidence affecting the way you did your job. She learned that if she was confident in doing what others rightfully believed she could do, then there was absolutely nothing that could stop her.

"We may not be enough." Chapel's head snapped up. That wasn't what she'd expected Uhura to say.

"We might not." Uhura continued. "That's the reality of it. But we're what we have, and although no one will think less of us for trying and failing, they'll have a whole lot more to say if we try and succeed." She looked Chapel in the eyes. "We're going to do it. Not only because we have to, either. We're going to do it because no one else can. Nobody else is as capable as we are right now."

A half-smile spread across Chapel's face. "That's because everyone else is in prison or on the other team."

Uhura grinned back at her. "Doesn't mean I'm wrong."

Now they were both chuckling. "Alright. You got me. Let's crack open this shuttle, O Most Capable Lieutenant Uhura."

"Right back at you, O Mighty Nurse Chapel."

They turned the shuttle upside down in their search. Panels were ripped off the walls, wires were removed and tied off and generally tangled beyond all recognition. Chapel even disconnected the entire communications rig for the sake of thoroughness.

In the end, it was an accident that cracked it.

"Well. Maybe it _is_ just a power sink." Chapel groaned. They'd been at it for the better part of an hour with no sign of success. She slid down the wall and deposited herself on the floor. This was as good a place as any to give up and wallow in frustration.

"We can't give up! There _has_ to be something!" Uhura had grown increasingly more frustrated with each passing minute. There were no indicators, no signs, no nothing that so much as suggested there might be something more to this shuttle than meets the eye.

"We might as well just try and find a weapons cache and shoot up the conference rooms." Chapel picked up her soldering coil again and started toying with it. "Go out with a bang."

Uhura crawled out from where she was disassembling the medical cabinet. She was covered in who knows what kind of machine fluids and the desire to kill whoever parked this shuttle here.

"That's a terrible idea and you know it. What good would that do? We've got the key to the mystery right here! …Somewhere…"

Chapel started tossing the soldering coil back and forth in her hands. "We've got to face it. There's nothing in this shuttle besides what was working before and the stuff we broke. We struck out." She hefted the coil up and tossed it at the wall across from her.

There was the expected thump, and then the wall moved. It sunk in, and popped back out like it was loaded on a spring, leaving about an inch's worth of space where a person could conceivably slide it back.

Chapel's jaw dropped.

"The walls?" Uhura almost shrieked. "We didn't check the walls and it was there the _whole time_?" She was fuming. "Oh, I am going to need such a stiff drink after this!"

Chapel scrambled off the floor and started messing with the newly exposed panel. "Huh. All you had to do was push it in. Who knew?" Her beaming smile contrasted wonderfully with Uhura's glare. She was so very done with this shuttle.

"Let's get a move on. I bet this is where Linois and Wogan went." Uhura slipped her fingers behind the panel and tugged it back, revealing not just some compartment, but a whole tunnel.

"That's a sure bet." Chapel picked up the soldering coil. It might just be lucky. Wouldn't hurt to drag it along. "Would you like to go first, or should Betsy and I take the lead?"

"If you're calling that coil 'Betsy', I'm going to need a round of shots to go with that drink."

Chapel grinned. "Ooh, count me in on that!"

The tunnel wasn't pitch dark like the vent they had been crawling through earlier. There were little lights shoved in crudely cut holes in the paneling. This wasn't professionally done. This was a product of spare time and questionable ingenuity.

The pair kept quiet as they traversed further into the secret passage. Chapel was keeping an eye out for any more hidden surprises, while Uhura was listening for voices.

Suddenly, she stopped. Chapel nearly ran into her, but there was just enough light in the tunnel to prevent it. There _were_ voices up ahead. They moved forward at a much slower and quieter pace until they could make out some words.

"-and that's not all! I think we're the only two left. I mean, besides MacAdam. He locked down the Sickbay, so there's no getting in there. Pretty much everyone else is cooped up in the conference rooms." _Linois._

The conversation was happening in a bigger space, a room cut out from the next section. Uhura called for a stop just shy of the only other doorway they'd found in this long passageway. She could see the glow of the emergency lights emanating from inside. It seemed like wherever this was, it was on low power, and it was incredibly secret.

Another voice spoke, one Uhura didn't recognize. "It's obvious why they're here. I'm surprised we weren't on the lookout for them. Honestly. This whole operation's been a sham from the get-go. We do a shoddy cleanup job on the computers, we give the Vulcan free roam of whatever he very well pleases and look what he gets us…-"

Chapel tugged on Uhura's sleeve. _L'Nel?_ She mouthed. Uhura nodded. Several things fell into place. L'Nel must be the whistleblower. Who else would not only notice but _care_ about such minor discrepancies as computer glitches and non-standard data that didn't have much at all to do with the smooth running of a Starbase? A Vulcan would, that's who. And a Vulcan devoted to logic who was also a green Starfleet officer? Double trouble. He wouldn't be able to overlook inconsistencies if he was ordered to at phaser point. That's just how Vulcans were.

"Not like we can do anything about it." This was Wogan's voice. "It'd be suspicious. Besides, orders are orders. At least he'll probably get real messed up by the goo people. We might have plausible freedom to off him once we're in the clear."

Uhura was listening as closely as she could. Goo people? They must mean the invaders, but how they knew so much about them she could only guess.

"Yeah. They're really messing people up in there." The stranger spoke again. "I've been monitoring the feed. They haven't figured out human speech, and my guess is they won't. Only, there's a slight problem I've come across."

"What?" Wogan scoffed. "They kill Kirk? That's not too much of a problem."

Chapel pressed her hand over her mouth to keep from gasping aloud.

"Nah. That _Enterprise_ doctor patched him up a little. The _bad_ news it they've got Corbett."

Uhura almost didn't hear Wogan's muttered swearing over her own sigh of relief. The Captain and Doctor McCoy were safe so far. And the conversation told her another thing: Most if not all of the prisoners were still alive. The invaders weren't killing them for whatever reason. At least there was a bright side to all this.

"Well that's just wonderful!" Linois chimed back in. "We can't up this to the next phase if they have Corbett! Who's gonna spin this our way? Not the Vulcan. Not any of the _Enterprise_ people!"

"Easy, easy." The third voice said. "They won't hurt him too badly. That, and we still have the upper hand. Put your phaser down on the desk and I'll show you something."

"Really?" Wogan sounded uneasy. "I'd rather keep my hands on it if it's all the same."

"Not this time you won't! Don't think I've forgotten what happened when Subject 6 pissed you off! I'm not having you mess with any more of my experiments. Besides, they're all shackled up. Nothing to worry about."

As confusing as this last part was, Uhura knew their time was approaching. They were going to have to move quickly. She could hear the three of them opening another door and making their way into what she assumed was another part of this secret setup- the part where the _experiments_ were housed.

"We rush in on three." Uhura hissed.

"What's with you and three?"

"Three! Go!"

They burst through the doorway. This room looked as rough-cut as the passageway, but it was equipped with equal parts security station and mad scientist's lab equipment. Three computer screens were set up at a desk in the corner, directly across from a shelf housing what looked like organs suspended in some kind of preservation fluid.

Linois, Wogan, and a man in science blues were entering another chamber. Uhura made it to the desk and the phasers before any of them could turn. When the trio finally did, they were met with a big surprise.

"Freeze! Hands in the air, all of you. Back away from the mad science. Slowly." Chapel was waving her phaser around in a manner that suggested she was altogether too pleased about this. Uhura just kept hers trained on the trio. These were dangerous people. They'd just talked about murder in a manner so casual it made her skin crawl.

At least they could follow orders. All of them moved away from the doorway. Uhura kept an eye out for any funny business. It didn't seem like any of them were armed.

"The Three Stooges called. They're suing you for stealing their act."

Linois and the other man just looked confused. Uhura tried very hard not to roll her eyes.

"What's going on around here?" Uhura trained her gun on the stranger and fixed him with a glare. "I want answers."

He looked like a scientist, but his demeanor was pretty different from the knowledge-seekers Uhura served with. This man had a calculating look on his face. He was trying to puzzle his way out of this. All he needed was time. Well, Uhura wasn't going to give it to him.

"Start talking."

The man gulped. "Well, for starters-"

Wogan elbowed him sharply. "Don't say anything, Pym. It's just them. There's no one else left."

Uhura decided she'd had enough of that. She trained her phaser on Wogan and fired. One conspirator down, two to go.

The other two looked at their fallen comrade in shock. Uhura had guessed right. Wogan was the leading personality in this group. Now that she had that taken care of, the other two would crumble quickly.

"Okay! Geez, just…" Pym was agitated. "Alright! This is where we keep 'em. But if the Berellians find us, we're definitely done for. There's nothing they want more than what's in my lab."

Berellians? Uhura didn't recognize the name. So this was the civilization attacking them. At least she had a name to go with the faces. _Berellians._

"You mean you idiots are the reason the base is under attack?" Chapel scrunched her nose at the two remaining conspirators. These guys were officially the worst. "That weird ship almost destroyed the _Enterprise,_ and you're telling me it was your fault?"

"Ship?" Both conspirators exchanged a look. Pym cleared his throat. "A Berellian Sphere attacked you? Remarkable! Can you describe its capabilities?"

Chapel snorted. "Can I shoot him and get this over with?"

Uhura smirked. "Be my guest. We only need one to tell us what's going on here. Besides, I'm sure the Berellians will be _very_ interested in what we know now."

Pym's face went pale. "Wait… There's no need to-"

Chapel stunned him and he fell in a heap next to Wogan.

Linois was sweating.

"Alright, pal, that was two strikes." Chapel swung her phaser around. "What do you have to say that doesn't make three?"

Linois broke. "We've been conducting experiments on the scouts. Is that what you want to hear? MacAdam does the medical side of it, if he didn't tell you before. That's how you found us right? MacAdam?"

Uhura and Chapel exchanged glances. "Yes. Go on."

He swallowed hard before continuing. "We… We haven't _killed_ anyone. I know how you _Enterprises_ feel about that."

"Not anyone like Doctor Gehrke?" Uhura didn't turn to look at Chapel, but she stiffened. Chapel was playing an awfully big hunch.

Linois looked more nervous than before. "It wasn't my idea! It was a last resort! Orders are orders you know, and…" Linois trailed off. He didn't finish his sentence.

"Who ordered it?" Uhura demanded. She wanted to know which of these three idiots was the real ringleader so they could be done with it.

Linois shook his head. He was a coward, but whatever hold the ringleader had over him was strong enough to ensure his silence. Uhura saw not more benefit in keeping him conscious.

"We have to lock them up somewhere." Chapel nudged Pym's shoulder with her foot. "They can't get out and cause even more trouble than they have already! Did you hear the way Pym was going on?"

"Yes." Uhura looked down the corridor that the conspirators had been entering. "They're keeping hostages. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to assume they have some cells to be emptied?"

A grin spread across Chapel's face. "It would not. Come on. Let's get some hostages freed."

They stunned each of the conspirators an extra time for good measure before starting down the little hallway.

//*\\\

Spock sat quietly. There was an Earth saying, 'mind over matter', that accurately described the lesson of Vulcan control that he was trying to emulate now. Pain was of the body. The body was subject to the mind.

From what he had gathered, there must be three other rooms like this one. The maximum capacity of the average conference room was 40 individuals if the table was removed, as it was here. Therefore, to fit 147 people, their captors must have utilized four such rooms. There were 38 people in here with Spock. His hypothesis held.

The Captain had regained consciousness only once since he had been returned. Jim used most of his energy to give Spock the details, but he didn't stay awake for too long. That was… disconcerting. As evidenced by the burns and contusions on his arms, Jim had been tortured. The fact that his Captain's wounds had been tended to led Spock to believe there was more to this than meets the eye.

Their captors did not seem to have any kind of grasp of Federation Standard, or any other recorded language. They spoke to each other in a peculiar manner that Spock could not decipher. It was… He would not say 'vexing'.

Spock looked around. Most of the injured had quieted, tended to by their colleagues and bandaged sufficiently. There were no oozing wounds. Despite the rumors they had heard about Starbase 38, the crew was as loyal to each other as any crewmember onboard the _Enterprise._ Spock admired their courage.

He had not seen Commodore Corbett, L'Nel, or Lieutenant Uhura, at least one of the three that he had expected to appear at some point. The invaders did not seem to be too discriminating when it came to which room the prisoners were returned to. Several had come from other locations. None had reported seeing any other _Enterprise_ people.

Spock was also worried about the condition of the Sickbay. He and Captain Kirk had left Doctor McCoy and Nurse Chapel in charge of tending to Doctor Gehrke there, and there was no way of knowing what had happened to them. None of their fellow prisoners knew. That, and there were no doctors to speak of among the prisoners. A few had been trained to some degree in field medicine, but that was all they had. It was not adequate.

Spock looked back to his Captain. Jim was propped up against the wall, half-leaning on it and half-relying on Spock's shoulder for support. Ordinarily, Spock would not find this position optimal, but the bodies were packed so tightly in the conference room that his Captain had to rest sitting up. Many others made the same sacrifice for the more badly wounded, or those actively being bandaged, or the claustrophobic. Jim had offered to do the same, before sleep overcame him again.

There was no solution. Spock could not work out a way to escape. There were too many hostages and too many guards for a prison break to be plausible. That, and he was loath to leave Jim behind. Especially in this condition.

It seemed that the decision was not his. The next group of guards came for him. Spock was escorted out of the conference room and down the hallway. He braced himself for one of their torture chambers, which had been described to him by several of his cellmates. Exposed wiring, electric shocks, and some sort of burning fluid awaited him.

He was not surprised, but Spock certainly did not expect the set of doors to reveal a very pristine officer's mess. He did not expect to see Doctor McCoy.

"Spock!" The Doctor's outburst startled the room's other occupant. Spock did not have time to assess Lieutenant L'Nel's condition before the vociferous physician grabbed his attention.

"Spock! You've had me worried sick! What kind of fool things were you and Jim doin' to get yourselves captured in the first place?" McCoy's hands moved up and down in an agitated manner, as if he was miming a physical examination while hesitant to lay a hand on Spock's person.

"Doctor, I believe I could ask you the same question." McCoy was his usual self. His concern was plastered across his face, poorly shrouded by his air of frustration.

"Why- why you… Spock, if I didn't know better, I'd say you're trying to change the subject. None of that now. What have they done to you? Why've they brought you here?"

Now that Spock had a chance to examine the room, he could see what the Doctor was 'driving at'. Several of the tables here were covered with fluid and medical supplies. Bandage ends were scattered across the floor, along with discarded tubes of some sort.

"They have been bringing you prisoners?"

McCoy's eyes widened. "Yes, Spock. They've been bringing the worst cases here, ever since they saw me work on Jim…" He stopped short. "Jim, how is he?"

So, McCoy had been the one to bandage the Captain's wounds. Spock had not been able to answer that question before. Pieces were falling into place.

"He is resting, most likely. The Captain is exhausted, but recovering from the session. That is the condition I left him in."

McCoy didn't look very relieved, but any good news was worth hearing. "Take care of him, Spock. He was totally unresponsive when I found him." McCoy paused, glancing at the door. "So, if you haven't been through the ringer, why did they bring you here?"

Spock paused. He did not know.

"Perhaps…" L'Nel stood and made his way over. "They may have recognized the Commander for what he is. They could conceivably have made the distinction between Vulcans and humans."

McCoy put his hands on his hips. "Well, whaddya know about that? Those pointed ears of yours finally came in handy. Now, here's a real puzzler for you…" He continued watching the door nervously. "How long will they let you stay?"

Spock recognized this behavior. Doctor McCoy was anxious. He knew there were patients out there to be treated, but for whatever reason, their captors had not deigned to bring him all of them. That, and McCoy must be concerned for their Captain. He had seen the state the interrogation had left Jim in. If Spock's estimations were correct, McCoy had also not been able to finish his work on his patient.

Perhaps too, there was an underlying element of psychology. Spock observed human behaviors from a scientific standpoint, and he had discovered something. Humans were not only social creatures, but they could in fact suffer from isolation. He suspected that some of the Doctor's anxiety was derived from this root cause. Though McCoy might seem hostile and disagreeable at times, he also craved social interaction just as much as the rest of his species. To put it simply: he _missed_ his regular companions.

"I do not know, Doctor, however…" Spock eyed the medical setup. "I would like to know as much as you can tell me about your experiences with this species. Perhaps we can devise some way of communicating with the. All previous efforts have proved fruitless."

McCoy stared. "You've tried other ways? They don't understand our language if that's what you mean, Spock." He explained how they had escaped Sickbay before being captured by the invaders, along with Commodore Corbett. Spock noted the Commodore's status, but remained quiet for the duration of the story. Occasionally, L'Nel would provide a missing detail. At the end of the report, the Doctor rubbed his shoulder. "Not a one of them understood what we said. Although, some cues translate pretty clearly."

Spock said nothing. He had not given in when Jim had returned broken, and he would not do so now. "Indeed. When we were first captured, the invaders made several attempts to communicate that were not successful. They did understand the phaser fire initiated by the Commodore's personal guard."

McCoy made a clicking noise. "Typical. Shoot first and ask questions later is a terrible recipe for diplomacy."

Spock inclined his head. "I agree, Doctor. It benefitted no one, and we weren't successful in learning anything other than this species' combat prowess. The Captain and I did go peacefully. That may be the reason he was one of the first few questioned."

"And you?" McCoy was studying him again. "You swear they haven't done anything?"

"No, Doctor." This time, there was nothing to conceal. "I have not been brought in for questioning."

Some tension seemed to leave the Doctor's stance. "Good. Now, I want you to do something for me, if they come back to get you. I want you to try and get a headcount of the injured. If they let you come back… Maybe you could bring one of the worst along. I know they're not letting me see everyone."

It was a reasonable request. Spock knew accepting would ease McCoy's mind. "I will take note-" He stopped suddenly. The invaders might take him back, yes, but would they take him back to the right room? It might not be important to them that he be reunited with his Captain but…

"Spock? What's wrong?" McCoy had noticed.

"Nothing, Doctor. I was simply considering…" Should he tell the truth? He was already under scrutiny. "I was considering the possibility that I may be returned to a different room than I was originally assigned. I may have a larger set of data for you."

The realization dawned on McCoy as well. "Oh. Well, uh, I'm sure your… old room will be in good hands without you. And besides, you're an officer. They'll know where you oughta go." This was stated with some degree of regret. Spock arched an eyebrow.

"I was aware they had determined which of our people were officers. How did you determine this?"

McCoy rubbed at one of his arms and looked anywhere but at Spock. "They uh… L'Nel, how do I put this?"

"The Doctor traded my safety for my lieutenant's stripes."

Spock's eyebrow climbed higher.

"It wasn't like that!" McCoy challenged. "Not exactly… They wanted his shirt. How was I to know they'd put two and two together?"

That sounded reasonable. Something persisted at the back of Spock's mind still. He could not place the sensation exactly…

"Lieutenant, how long have you and Doctor McCoy been imprisoned here?"

L'Nel took this one. "Approximately one hour, fifteen minutes, and thirty seconds ago."

McCoy rolled his eyes, but this cleared some things up in Spock's mind.

"Then, you could not have been the source of the invaders' knowledge, Doctor. The Captain and I have been prisoners for approximately thirty-seven minutes longer than you, and this revelation was made very shortly after our arrival."

The Doctor studied him for some sign that Spock was putting him on, trying to assuage his concerns. But, Vulcans didn't lie.

"Huh." McCoy ran a hand through his hair. "Then I guess they just really liked your shirt, kid."

"I can not see an alternate reason." L'Nel looked almost confused. His hypothesis had proven incorrect, and now he had to rethink some things.

"At least they're trying." McCoy muttered. He looked over the table of medical supplies. "But, I don't know how much longer I can keep up. We only had the one medkit to work with."

Indeed, that would prove problematic. Spock could see no sign of the invaders slowing or halting the proceedings. There was something they wished to know. If only he could figure out what…

The doors swooshed back open behind him. Several guards entered to take him back.

"No!" McCoy yelled. He rushed forward and grabbed hold of Spock's arm. "They're not taking you away too. They'll have a field day with you, Spock. I can't let 'em do that! They'll have to settle for one less test subject-"

The guards were insistent. Two pairs of hands grabbed Spock's shoulders. He saw no reason to resist, since there was little he could do to change the outcome of this encounter. The guard to his left signaled to one of the others in the hall. Spock was alarmed to see the newcomer approach along a different route. One that would take him straight to…

"Lieutenant, restrain the Doctor."

" _What?"_

McCoy's indignant squawk was not pleasant to hear, but Spock's course of action caused him something akin to guilt as well. L'Nel did as he was told and grabbed McCoy. It didn't take much effort for him to pry the Doctor away. McCoy reacted as expected, with several colorful metaphors and threats to both Spock and the Lieutenant.

"Don't let him out of your sight, Lieutenant." Spock didn't resist, so the guards did not use force to try and lead him from the room. L'Nel listened carefully. For all intents and purposes, this was a direct order from the highest-ranking officer available. "Keep him from danger. He is the only doctor left."

The doors shut. Spock had left him with one furious Doctor and an order. No harm would befall McCoy. L'Nel reflected on this as the Doctor's tantrum started to wind down. Yes, it was only logical. The physician would be the most appropriate choice to preserve, since he could undo any potential damage to the crew or to L'Nel himself.

McCoy stopped kicking enough for L'Nel to feel it was safe to let him go. The Doctor made some comment about 'not being treated like a blasted child' before going over to the table to sulk.

It seemed to L'Nel that he had been tasked with a very difficult duty indeed.


	10. Chapter 10

The lighting in the laboratory was green, because _of course it was._

Uhura, being the very model of patience, did not make any comment. Chapel was having a field day tearing the design, function, and intent of this place to pieces with the kind of colorful language that would make McCoy himself blush. Of course, if the good Doctor was there, he'd be cussing out the walls right there with her.

What had started out as an investigation was turning into a tentative rescue mission. So far, they hadn't encountered any alien beings in the lab, but they were _slowly_ combing through each room at Uhura's insistence.

"We have to be prepared for what we find further along." Uhura explained as she scrolled through some of Pym's notes. If there was something in here like a medical profile, or snippets of language-

"I can't believe these _idiots!"_

Chapel was surprised at the outburst. It was the first thing of the kind she'd heard so far. "What have they done now?"

Uhura was fuming over one of Pym's consoles. "This moron has all the data he could possibly want! And I found L'Nel's missing data! There are enough samples in here to piece together the entire _language_ and not just 'pronouns and small verbs' like this incompetent-" Uhura took a deep breath. "You can go on, Chris, I'm going to look at these a minute. And shoot Pym again for me, will you?"

Chapel grinned. "Of course." She was itching to find the prisoners, however many of them there were. Pym's notes weren't specific, but there were at least 6. The group had given that much away.

It wasn't a big hallway. But someone had installed way too many doors in it. In the time it took Chapel to phaser through the lock on the first one, Uhura had caught up with her.

"Need some help?" She asked.

"Please." Chapel turned around to see that Uhura had a phaser in one hand, and someone's science project in the other. "Did Pym hot glue a tube of toothpaste to a universal translator?"

Uhura snorted. "Just about. The man's an idiot, but he did stumble onto the key to the Berellian language. They can change chemical consistencies in their vocal chords and make a much wider variety of vibrations than most other humanoid systems. There are too many subtle differences in pitch for his goo to replicate, but if I can get a sample of Berellian speech live, then I can calibrate this thing to only a 10% chance of error."

Chapel's eyebrows hit the roof. "I know you didn't get all of that from Pym's notes. Is this what L'Nel was talking about?"

"Not exactly." Uhura smiled. "I had an inkling of this on the ship, when the vibration patterns turned up inconsistent in the computer data. L'Nel had a theory of his own, but more importantly he had a data set. I was able to take what Pym had deemed 'useless' and what he had obtained from actual Berellians together to program a nearly functional translation algorithm."

"Wow." Chapel was a little bit floored. She knew Uhura was a genius, obviously, but this kind of jury-rigging on the fly was more than impressive. "I'll be you there's a real live Berellian behind this door who'd be happy to answer your questions."

"Right." Uhura leveled her phaser at the next lock. "Let's get to it."

There were only 3 doors separating them from the cellblock. It seemed that the conspirators weren't total fools when it came to security. If someone wanted to get out, they'd have one heck of a time of it. But, that could mean a couple of things. For instance, what kind of security measures were there inside?

Chapel kicked open the last door and stepped inside the cellblock. It was a disaster. She could see six distinct cells, the kind with heavy metal doors and one tiny barred window. But, were there any occupants? None had come forward to check.

"Uhura." She whispered. "Switch that thing on."

Uhura did so and waited.

"We're here to rescue you!" Chapel shouted. There was a buzz from the universal translator. Suddenly, every cell window was crowded with a face. Chapel recognized the look. These were definitely the same species as the invaders. And it also meant that- to some degree- the translation algorithm worked.

"We've come to help." Uhura tried. "Your people are on this station and they are looking for you."

None of the Berellians had spoken thus far. Chapel was starting to get nervous. Finally, one of the ones in the back started up.

"Is this another of your tests?"

Chapel's heart sank, but Uhura jumped right back in. "No, but if you don't believe me, believe this. Stand back!" She aimed her phaser at the locking mechanism on the first cell. The face disappeared from the window and she fired. In a moment, the lock disintegrated. Smoke rose from the doorframe. Everything was still, until the door swung open. Slowly at first, but then rapidly as the reality of freedom set in, a Berellian exited the cell.

Uhura smiled and aimed her phaser at a lock across the room. Soon, the little hallway was crowded with them, most going to embrace one another. The one from the first cell stepped up to talk.

"This is no deception." Genuine surprise. The voice the translator picked up sounded male on the other end of the tube, but Uhura preferred not to make a judgment before her algorithm had been proven true.

"Yes. We're here to help you all. Your capture was a crime, and we aim to bring those responsible to justice. But first, we must ask a favor of you."

The other Berellians came forward now, eager to hear what was going on outside the complex.

"We'll explain everything." Chapel interjected. "But first, are any of you injured? There are medical supplies in the next room and I can treat your wounds." There should be enough data on Pym's computer to supply biological information. Chapel's first guess was that they were amphibious to some degree, but that didn't tell her enough about their physical makeup.

The Berellians conferred, and two stepped forward. Chapel guided them and the others back towards the main room. She was happy to see their apparent delight that the conspirators had been stunned senseless. That, and they offered their cooperation more easily.

Uhura stood to the side with her new pal. The Berellian was taking keen interest in the pair of them, but there was something to be discussed.

"You spoke of a favor…?"

"Yes. I'm sorry. Let me introduce myself. I'm Uhura, Lieutenant on the Federation starship _Enterprise_. This base also belongs to the Federation, but no one knew what was going on behind these walls."

The Berellian nodded. "Thank you, Uhura. I am S'Ghrinne, Scientist and Temporary Captain of the exploratory vessel Ge'Heda. My crew and I were exploring this sector when we were captured and taken here."

"I'm sorry, Captain S'Ghrinne. I can only hope to assure you that this isn't a common practice of ours. We have discovered a conspiracy on this Starbase designed to hide your presence."

S'Ghrinne made a noise which the translator picked up as a snort. "So, we are secret prisoners? Even more disgraceful." The captain surveyed the members of his party who had already been tended to. "I thank you once again for this service. Please, tell me how we can help you in return."

Uhura supposed now was as good a time as any. "Well, we believe there is another attempt in progress to rescue you. Our ship was attacked by what we can only assume was one of your vessels, and now this base is under attack too. We'd like you to help us free our people, who are being held and tortured on this base."

If S'Ghrinne had eyebrows, they would have hit the ceiling. "Tortured? You can't be serious! Our race is peaceful! We would never…" The captain seemed genuinely taken aback by this news. "Can you show me? I wish to understand."

Uhura supposed that there must be some kind of video feed set up in here. There must be a way for Pym and the others to monitor L'Nel, or the shuttle bay for potential intrusions.

"I believe so. If you'll follow me."

They crossed over to the computer terminal. Uhura pulled up camera footage, and found that this terminal had access to every record on base. Everything. Personnel files, medical records… She supposed McAdam had a hand in that one, but the clearance level was astonishing. She pushed this revelation aside for a moment and concentrated on the task at hand. Quickly as she was able, she pulled up a video feed on a random conference room.

Nothing. Uhura tried the next one, and was met with success. Apparently, the commodore's ready room wasn't the place. The prisoners were being held in the three main conference rooms on the center deck. Two Berellian guards entered the room onscreen, took a yet-unscathed crewman, and left.

S'Ghrinne watched the feed intently. There must be some similarity between this and the treatment the Berellians had received. Uhura only hoped they would not deem it better for the starbase people to have a taste of their own medicine.

"Where are they being taken?" This wasn't the question Uhura had been expecting, but she scrolled through the rooms anyway. She passed through two more conference rooms until she found it. The setup was plain. Right on time, the guards brought the crewman in and strapped him to a chair in the middle of the room. Uhura could see the walls and floor were slick with some sort of fluid. She hadn't seen any of this before. She had no idea what it was. But, she couldn't look on when the Berellian guards turned the exposed wires on the poor man.

"It is not torture-" S'Ghrinne stopped and started over. "It is not _supposed_ to be torture. But, there is no way for our people to know… Only we in the prison have been able to determine." Uhura turned around for some clarification, and the captain continued. "We use a less… primitive technique to speak with our own who have…" The translator cut out for a moment, whirred, and spit out "speaking difficulties."

Uhura supposed this could be interpreted as either deafness or difficulty in making sound, but given what they knew about Berellian biology up until this point, the explanation made sense.

"Although their intentions may be good, surely they must understand that it's causing pain?"

S'Ghrinne looked over at the line of his comrades waiting for medical attention. "It is reasonable to guess that they do not care." The captain turned back to the computer monitor. "There! I do recognize some. He is Captain Shonye of the Sayonelo, and there next to him is Commander Y'Dhera of the Hy'Geware!"

These revelations came out slightly garbled, and Uhura could only hope that 10 percent inaccuracy wouldn't be used on pronunciation.

"They are familiar to you?"

S'Ghrinne nodded. "The Hy'Geware and Sayonelo both are in my cousin's division." Here, some more words were delayed. Uhura supposed familial terms and military jargon hadn't been registered before now.

"Is your cousin there?" It seemed safe to say they'd figured out why the Berellian invaders were so thorough in their methods. The hostages were family.

"No, Dashydea isn't among them. I suspect she is in another of the rooms, though. Cousin is an Admiral, and very serious." More halting on 'Admiral', but Uhura didn't care much for precision at this point. As long as the general idea got across. Though, she'd be spending a lot of her down time later on refining this program.

"Uhura, do you have any data on their blood composition?" Chapel hollered from across the room. Uhura and S'Ghrinne looked at her in surprise.

"I'll check." Uhura scanned Pym's records and found the details. "High nitrogen content, oxygen processing… Pym's not a very good record keeper." She abandoned his sparse computer records and started sifting through stacks of paper notes.

"That's alright. I was just wondering if one of Mister Spock's concoctions would do better, but I think I can handle it."

Uhura sighed. This was a disaster. At least they had some communication established. When this had all blown over, they could get the injured back into Sickbay- The Sickbay that was still locked down… Oh, and of course they'd have to take care of McAdam, Domanova, and Doctor Gehrke. That was going to be handful. They'd need everyone available- _the doctors._ Uhura dropped her head into her hands. Sickbay was a gigantic _mess_ that they just couldn't sort out right now.

"Are you well?" S'Ghrinne was hovering at her shoulder.

"Yes. Perfectly fine." She stood up straighter and smoothed out her skirt. "It's just a stressful job, suddenly becoming the senior ranking officer. We're the only ones who aren't captured, potentially dead, or currently dying."

If S'Ghrinne had eyebrows… "That is quite a responsibility. And you act as if this isn't routine… I should think you did things like this every day!"

That got a chuckle out of her. "I've done much stranger things, only most times I have my Captain or one of the senior officers around. I know what I'm capable of but… I suppose I understand what he meant now, carrying all these people on your shoulders-"

 _WeforgotabouttheEnterprise_.

Uhura took another deep breath and resolved to take this one disaster at a time. They couldn't get to the ship if they didn't have the situation in hand. They couldn't do that until the Berellian prisoners were ready to move.

"Chris! How stable are your patients?"

She watched as Chapel used her teeth to rip off the last of the bandages before tying the loose end down. "That's the last one! Why? Something happening?"

"Yes!" Uhura grabbed the galaxy's shabbiest translator and the spare phaser. "We have to get back out there."

"What the rush?"

"When's the last time you heard from the _Enterprise?_ "

" _Oh._ "

Chapel shot out of her seat and started herding the patients towards the door. "On second thought…" She spun around and stunned their three prisoners once more for good measure. "I'm a nurse, I'm qualified." She muttered before returning to her charges.

"We have to get you to your Admiral." Uhura gestured towards the doorway. "We need to prove that you're alright so we can free our own people."

S'Ghrinne nodded before addressing the group. He was definitely the one in charge of them. He had that air about him, that mysterious factor that could make or break a commander. Uhura and Chapel watched as he explained the plan in more detail. Every time the translator skipped on a word, Uhura made an adjustment. She'd wired a spare PADD to the main processor so changes could be made much faster. This way, her margin for error would decrease with every conversation.

"Are we ready?" She checked over the group. All six plus Chapel were standing by. "Good. We'll go first, just in case we run into any trouble, but I want the rest of you to stay close. We can't have you getting lost."

The Berellians all nodded in agreement. All set, then.

//*\\\

McCoy had been furious. He'd burned out most of his anger by this point and started mopping up whatever kind of conductive goo his patients had been sloshed in. L'Nel was meditating or something. Fine. He didn't care. The hobgoblin could do whatever he wanted. Not like the kid would listen to him anyway. No, it was just _Spock's_ opinion that made a difference around here. Infuriating.

McCoy wadded up the napkin and threw it against the far wall. It made a satisfying noise, and he was appeased.

L'Nel chose this moment to interrupt him.

"Doctor McCoy, could you explain this human custom of… overzealously destroying disposable objects of little value?"

"Stress relief." He crossed his arms and stared at L'Nel out of the corner of his eye. "It's funner than meditating."

L'Nel didn't comment on McCoy's grammar, only fixed him with a quizzical expression. The Doctor was starting to get unnerved when the Vulcan finally spoke. "Indeed? I was aware of the human desire for recreation, but the purpose- beyond maintaining physical fitness- has so far escaped me."

"You're an observer of human nature, then?" McCoy was surprised. Spock didn't typically engage in any of these kinds of 'studies'. Then again, he knew Spock's mother was human. It occurred to him that Spock probably knew infinitely more about human nature than he let on. But that was fuel for a different fight.

L'Nel nodded. "It is one of the benefits of the V'Plessi Initiative. In addition to my scientific research, I also have the opportunity to study firsthand the different cultures in Starfleet. Humans are a majority. So it is your behaviors, Doctor, that I have devoted the most time to so far."

McCoy smirked. "How about a hands-on lesson?" He picked up one of the napkins. "Go ahead. Toss it."

L'Nel stood and approach McCoy with that eyebrow of his already at maximum incline.

"Go on. As hard as you want to. Just throw it."

Cautiously, L'Nel took the wadded up napkin. McCoy watched as the Lieutenant fought with his inner Vulcan sensibilities before hurling the napkin with all his might. The _thunk_ on the opposite wall was wonderful.

"Good job. I bet you could throw a mean fastball." McCoy clapped a hand on the kid's shoulder. "How's that for observation?"

L'Nel looked at McCoy's hand but didn't comment on it. "It was an… interesting experience. There is always something appealing about physical exercise, but the senseless nature of this activity provides…" He trailed off. The kid got lost in thought. McCoy supposed he could draw up a map.

"Stress relief. A perfectly logical activity with all sorts of illogical upsides. Sometimes, we human are hard-pressed not to toss these at _each other_."

That got a reaction. L'Nel scooted back a couple of feet and McCoy laughed. "Oh, don't worry. I know better than to pick a slimeball fight with a Vulcan. I remember the time Jim- The Captain- talked him into a round of paintball." He waved off L'Nel's increasingly confused expression. "Old-Earth game which involves shooting paint pellets out of pressurized air guns. Anyhow, Jim called it a 'tactical exercise' so Spock couldn't say no, and their team proceeded to mow down just about anyone in their sights."

L'Nel lowered himself into a chair, listening intently. McCoy continued. "That is, until they got to where me an' Nurse Chapel an' Doctor M'Benga were hiding out. Geoff and I wasted Jim from two sides, but Spock took us out with almost surgical precision. And I'd know. Well, Chapel didn't take too kindly to that, so she waited him out and painted poor Spock's shirt hot pink."

"Nurse Chapel from the Sickbay?" L'Nel was listening like a kid at a campfire.

McCoy nodded. "The very same. She's terrifying if you get on her bad side." He rubbed at his arm. "But, I for one am glad she's safe in the Sickbay. She and Uhura can take care of themselves, but I'd rather they not have to all the same."

L'Nel was quiet. McCoy was starting to wonder if the kid had gone back to meditating.

"I believe I understand. It's the desire to protect, regardless of the circumstances or individuals involved."

"Well…" McCoy wasn't sure where that piece of psychology came from. "You might have a mite of something there, but I think who and where and why have a little to do with it."

L'Nel inclined his head at the Doctor. "Yes. I apologize. Something just became clear to me."

McCoy wasn't going to pry, but if the kid was going to keep up this cryptic business then McCoy was going to go back to throwing wet paper.

"T'Madh was concerned that this location posed too much risk."

"T'Madh?"

"I apologize again, Doctor. T'Madh is my wife. She works aboard the research vessel Sh'Vaan."

Now it was McCoy's turn to look surprised. L'Nel seemed a little- scratch that- _way_ too young by Vulcan measures to be married. Spock's 'wedding' had only crashed and burned recently. And Spock had to be, what, at least ten years older than L'Nel?

"You're married?" McCoy ventured. "At your age?"

L'Nel's face took on a strange light. "We were fortunate. Despite the odds, my th'y'la found me when I was eight years old."

Now McCoy's eyebrows hit the roof. That must've been some kind of revelation. He had an inkling about what that meant to Vulcans, soul mates and all that. By the look on L'Nel's face, it was every bit as serious as he supposed.

"Some odds, huh?"

"Indeed. We have been together ever since."

"But not now?"

"In a sense…" L'Nel paused. He seemed to be in some kind of conflict about sharing this information.

"Son, I've been to a Vulcan wedding ceremony and I've seen a thing or two outside that. That being said, you don't have to say anything you aren't comfortable with sharing." McCoy took a seat for himself and kicked his feet up on the table.

"Thank you for understanding, Doctor. It is a deeply personal thing."

"Not a problem." McCoy leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. "I'd probably make a better psychologist outside of a holding cell."

"Indeed." L'Nel didn't give any sign that he'd recognized this as a joke, but his tone had changed. "Though, our circumstances do provide a unique opportunity to-"

The doors opened suddenly and they were both taken by surprise. It was almost becoming routine, seeing the guards carrying an unfortunate patient between them. Four of them weren't routine, but then again neither was their patient. It took McCoy a moment to identify Commodore Corbett despite the fact that the man was just about the only _giant_ he'd seen on this base. 'Well over six-foot and burly' wasn't a job description for two or three.

The guards set Corbett down on the customary table and left them to it. L'Nel was already out of his seat and examining the Commodore when McCoy got up to fetch supplies.

"He does not look any worse than the others we have seen, Doctor. The burns are concentrated in the usual pattern."

McCoy set the kit down on the table and started rolling back the Commodore's sleeve. He nearly jumped out of his skin when Corbett's other arm shot off the table and a hand caught his wrist.

"Doctor McCoy. We meet again." Corbett opened his eyes and smirked like he'd just won a trick. It seemed as if he'd faked his way onto the exam table.

McCoy was fuming. Forget the fact that the Commodore's melodrama made him flinch. This man was taking valuable care away from the badly injured. None of _them_ had to fake unconsciousness. Most didn't wake up on the exam table, either. Yes, McCoy was furious.

"Just what the blazes do you think you're doing?" He tried to yank his hand away, but Corbett held fast.

"Not so loud. They'll hear."

"Gimme one good reason why I shouldn't raise a fuss! If you're healthy enough to be doin' fool things like this, then you don't need to be here."

Corbett frowned at that, but released the Doctor's arm. "I'm trying to figure out a way to stop them. But, if you need a more 'official' reason for my being here, I'd like that report, Doctor. Now, if you'd be so kind."

McCoy's eyebrows descended to glowering levels before he dived right back in- full tilt fury. "Pardon me, _Commodore,_ but are you out of your mind? We're sittin' in the middle of a cell block, and you're askin' me for a medical report?" He kept his voice low, but there was no disguising the Doctor's anger. It was either some kind of extreme selfishness or cowardice that put Corbett here instead of his own crew and McCoy would have none of it.

"For whatever reason, this is _my_ Sickbay for all intents and purposes. So, unless you can contract something deadly in the next few seconds, _beat it_!"

L'Nel, for his part, stayed totally silent. He watched the exchange with some interest. But not even the Vulcan could conceal his surprise when McCoy told a superior officer to take a hike. Corbett seemed agitated. It was like he couldn't fathom the idea of this kind of insubordination. That, or he was desperate for McCoy to cooperate.

"Doctor McCoy. Your medical expertise is almost legendary. I'm sure you could come up with some… _biological_ solution to our problems. If you would just discuss-"

"So what, you want me to _gas them?_ With the three hyposprays I got left in my kit? You're more cracked up than I thought." McCoy leaned in close. His eyes sparked with thinly veiled disdain. "You want an escape plan? Go back to playin' possum and send _Captain Kirk_ here in your place."

Before Corbett could spark enough neurons for a response, the doors slid back open. The guards were here to take back their patient. McCoy turned toward the door expectantly, but Corbett didn't follow suit.

"I guess I'll just have to improvise."

The Doctor was trapped before he knew what was happening. There was an arm around his neck, and a hand wrenching his own arm back. He tried to break loose, but the Commodore secured his hold well. No doubt about it- Corbett was off his rocker. He _had_ to be crazy to think this was a good idea.

The guards stopped abruptly. They seemed to recognize the situation well enough, although they looked pretty confused as to _why_ this was happening. McCoy couldn't blame them. He didn't understand this painful turn of events himself. It seemed as if Corbett was quick on his feet. He'd devised this insane scheme in an instant, but it didn't seem like he was thinking this through. That, and McCoy's arm felt like the Commodore was taking it too far.

"Stay back! I'm warning you!" Corbett had no bravado in him. McCoy could tell the man couldn't bluff hardly enough to save his skin, let alone anyone else's. It was just the Commodore's luck that the guards couldn't understand him anyhow. _Jim would talk him down or laugh him off. If it weren't my arm in the vice I'd say the man had no real fight in him. But taking this into consideration…_

The Commodore paused. McCoy supposed he was planning his next move. _The man doesn't think too far ahead,_ he mused. _If I were a guard, I'd'a shot the both of us by now outta sheer confusion._

But, it never came to that. McCoy was just wondering how far Corbett would take this when the Commodore's grip relaxed, and then disappeared entirely. The Doctor heard a body hit the floor. When he turned around, he was greatly surprised to see L'Nel standing over Corbett, one hand outstretched. There was a twinkling in the Lieutenant's eyes as he raised both his hands and put them behind his head. _Smart kid._

McCoy didn't bother with presentation. He dropped into the closest chair and ran a hand across his throat. That was a very unpleasant position to be in. He was a little shot, what after the near heart attack Corbett gave him on the outset. Now all this nonsense... The Doctor was not a fan of being used like this.

The guards circled Corbett and L'Nel. One of them prodded the Commodore with the end of his rifle, while another actually did some checking to see if the man was alive. The rest stood warily around the young Vulcan. It looked like the first time any of them had seen a nerve pinch in action.

One of the guards broke off from the group and moved towards McCoy's chair. It didn't take a moment to recognize his old patient. The Doctor inclined his head but stayed seated for the time being. He needed a second to breathe. The guard didn't interfere. McCoy was grateful.

When it appeared as if the guards had done all they could to determine what had just happened- and they were still at a loss- McCoy decided that he had to step back in, personal feelings aside. Corbett _had_ been tortured after all. It was still the Doctor's job to patch the idiot back up.

McCoy got to his feet and made his way over to his patient.

"Doctor." L'Nel started. "I can assure you that the Commodore is fine, and that he is in more than sufficient condition to-"

"I know that. He's still got burns, doesn't he?" McCoy took the Commodore's pulse before crossing to the table for his kit. The guards all stood well out of his way.

L'Nel didn't seem to follow. The Lieutenant eyed McCoy curiously. "He has attacked you, Doctor. Beyond the fact that you were correct in your original diagnosis that the Commodore is in better health than many of your other patients, I fail to see the logic in wasting resources on an undeserving individual."

McCoy knelt down next to the Commodore and started unrolling bandage. "It's something I was raised on, son. 'Love your neighbor'. You know what that one means?"

L'Nel paused. "A neighbor is classified as an individual who resides next to ones' self."

"And who's next to me?"

The Lieutenant remained silent while McCoy finished his work. The guards did not interfere either. They chatted amongst themselves for a while, sometimes pausing to observe the Doctor's process. Once McCoy had finished, two of the guards prepared to get Corbett up again.

Not a one of them could mistake the sound of phaser fire. The guards snapped up their weapons. Something was going on in the hallway. From here, McCoy couldn't decide whether or not it'd be good.

The Doctor's old patient stayed between them and the door while the others hurried out. L'Nel was on the move too. He placed himself between McCoy and the guard.

McCoy sighed. _I can only hope he's not taking Spock's order too far. Where's the logic in throwing yourself in the line of fire?_

"Hey, Lieutenant." he called. "Give me a hand here."

L'Nel turned around. That eyebrow was on the rise.

"If we're being attacked, I don't have a lot of time." McCoy matched him brow for brow. "And if we have to move him, I certainly can't do it myself."

His logical appeal worked. L'Nel trotted back over and got to work on Corbett's other side. Together they ignored all the noise coming from the hallway and made quick work of the Commodore's injuries. Corbett was bandaged 'adequately' as L'Nel put it.

"Good." McCoy sat back on his heels. The phaser fire was getting louder. He couldn't help but listen. At some point, he'd be called to deal with the wounded, whatever side they were on. They weren't permitted to leave yet. McCoy resigned himself to waiting. "Get comfy, kid. We're about to be in business."

L'Nel looked like he was weighing something internally. "I am… content with my career choice, Doctor. I find your 'business' very unpleasant."

"It ain't for everybody. Still, I'm glad there's one of me to patch up those fools who're so determined to get themselves killed in the name of discovery. I perform surgery on more scientists than I do security personnel." Security people were more likely to go before they made it to Sickbay. In a way, he felt more connected to them. These were the folks doing the same job as he was: keeping the crew safe.

Didn't mean he had to like the toll. L'Nel seemed to be sympathizing.

"Curiosity is not an emotion, though it is felt keenly in my race. I respect your reservations, Doctor, but I also recognize their need to… go." L'Nel began organizing the medkit to busy his hands. McCoy supposed it could be a nervous tic. The Lieutenant was awful anxious for a Vulcan. He wondered about that, too.

"Don't get me started, son. I've heard the speech." McCoy sighed. "I get it. Here's something." He caught L'Nel's gaze and held it. "Start a trend. Don't do anything unnecessarily stupid, and you'll improve your physician's blood pressure by miles."

"The units are incongruous, but I perceive your meaning. Very well, Doctor. I will add this to the values I am trying to instill in my illogical colleagues."

That got McCoy chuckling. "And they say Vulcans don't have a sense of humor."

L'Nel's eyes twinkled. "That assessment is quite correct." He froze with one hand still in the medkit when there was a loud crash outside.

The door opened again. For the first time, they could hear the chaos clearly. That door was dampening a lot of the action. A guard had come in, and there was some kind of intense discussion going on in the doorway. McCoy caught sight of a stray phaser blast.

Their guard issued some orders. The newcomer hurried back outside, only to return with four or five comrades. They were here to collect Corbett. McCoy was ushered to one side by his ex-patient. There was an arm around his middle sending some pretty clear 'don't go anywhere' signals. L'Nel stuck close by without any persuasion. Whatever was going on, they were in for one heck of a ride.


	11. Chapter 11

"So. They're not patrolling."

Nurse Chapel had been keeping one eye on her patients, and the other peeled for any signs of danger, be it Starfleet or Berellians forces. So far so good, in that they hadn't run into anything other than a deserted Starbase.

"No." Uhura checked and cleared the next hallway. It was still a little ways to the conference rooms, and that was slow going with 6 freshly freed prisoners. On top of that, they still weren't exactly clear on how long the Berellians had been housed in the little cells. Apparently, the time standards were different. But, that was a problem for _tomorrow's_ algorithm.

She turned to speak with S'Ghrinne. "Is it normal procedure for guards to patrol the hallways of a conquered base?"

The scout captain shook his head. "We do not often capture places. I would assume that they all stuck together so they would not become lost. It stands to reason that they have rounded up your people and then stayed within an area they were familiar with. Ours is not a people who advocates much solitude."

It came out all right, though Uhura wasn't certain on that phrasing. This was another problem for tomorrow's algorithm. She just didn't have that kind of time today.

"Ok. Chris, how are the others doing?"

Chapel was tending to one of the other prisoners as they spoke. "About as well as can be expected, but I'm worried about some of these abrasions. They look more than skin deep, and from what I understand, they've been around for a long time."

S'Ghrinne broke away to assist. He took one look at the wounds and provided an answer. "This was their way of determining how we communicated. They manipulated different types of –energy- and tested the results on us. It is the –energy- in your weapons that made these marks."

Uhura frowned. "Energy" wasn't coming through correctly. But, if what they understood about Berellian physiology was true, this might be more than some simple electrical impulses.

"I think we can fix this on the _Enterprise._ " Chapel tied the bandages back on and faced Uhura. "We should hurry, though. They haven't been properly fed or hydrated in some time. I'd say it was more unfamiliarity than carelessness, but I don't doubt that Pym and his cronies kept these people on light rations."

That fit, unfortunately. Uhura checked the hallway one more time before nodding at the others to move forward. "We'll burn that bridge when we come to it."

As it turned out, they should have studied the maps more carefully.

Chapel didn't point it out when they passed the crew quarters for the second time. Her fuse was getting shorter and shorter. They weren't lost. Not really. They just couldn't make the destination line up with the hallways available.

"Whoever designed this crazy place oughta be sent to a prison colony! It's criminal, needing a map on a base this small. On the _Enterprise,_ everything is straightforward. This place is practically a maze!" She could complain, though. Uhura was being very professional about the whole thing, operating with a cool head and a fine air of command.

"We'll find our way soon enough. I think instead of the second left we should take the right that was after it. This way, we won't go running around in circles." Uhura was even being positive about this. Chapel was angry enough to spit bullets, but she resolved to keep her mouth shut. That translator was getting too good for her to swear in front of the Berellians and be misunderstood.

But, their luck seemed to be improving at every turn. Chapel followed Uhura around the right turn and discovered a whole group of Berellian guards. They spotted the two Starfleet uniforms and raised their weapons.

"Wait!"

The effect was almost hilarious. So surprised was this group, that they nearly dropped their weapons. The guns hit the floor with a whole lot of racket when the former prisoners rounded the corner.

" _Brother!_ " One of the guards practically flew from the group. The rest followed closely after, and a great big reunion took place. It seemed siblings, cousins, old friends, even classmates were being reunited right here in the corridor. There were hugs all around. Uhura and Chapel were grinning like idiots.

When embraces started turning into conversations, Uhura took the opportunity to record some more pronouns and adjectives. Without intruding, she stood on the edge of the huddle and monitored her algorithm. It was for the best. If they were going to try and negotiate with the Berellians, they'd need a lot more words.

Eventually, one of the guards approached them. It was the one with S'Ghrinne.

"Uhura!" S'Ghrinne looked to be in high spirits. "Allow me to introduce to you my sister Y'Gare, Lieutenant. Sister, this is Uhura, Lieutenant and Chapel, Lieutenant as well."

Lieutenant Y'Gare bowed, only moving her head, in a Berellian gesture of respect or greeting. Uhura did her best to duplicate it.

"I understand you have rescued my brother, Lieutenant." Y'Gare looked ecstatic. Who wouldn't, if someone in their family had been missing for months without a word only to return alive and well? "I also understand you can speak with us. What is your device that it can speak and ours can not?"

Uhura smiled back. "Yes, it comes down to that, I think. Our manner of speaking is very different from yours, so the devices you employ to communicate don't work on our people. This" she held up the translator, "is what we need to talk with each other."

"As a matter of fact," Chapel jumped in, "your device is actually hurting our people. We're sure you meant no harm, but we have to help them."

Y'Gare didn't look surprised, only a little resigned. "Yes, I am truly sorry. We could see the harm our –communicator- was doing, but we were desperate. As soon as we located your physicians, we tried to repair some of the damage."

"McCoy!" Chapel blurted. She'd been wondering where he and L'Nel were being kept. It seemed like he was safe. When the others began to stare in confusion, she continued. "He's the very best person to help."

"He seems very good at what he does. Stubborn, too. Your MmCoy does not like to part with his patients. It took the force of his assistant to make him give them up."

Chapel could only imagine. L'Nel must've had to drag the Doctor bodily from whomever he was attending. Nothing irritated him more than leaving a job half done or a patient in an uncertain condition.

"Yes, but he is very kind for one of you. We found him attending Commander Ganowo, who was badly injured by one of your –energy- weapons." Y'Gare smiled. "Ganowo is returning the favor by acting as his guard. He arranged to have the other assistant brought to the treatment room for a visit. The stay was not long because this one was an officer, but MmCoy seemed happy during their meeting."

Uhura frowned. She knew for a fact that none of the other medical people had made it out of the Sickbay. Who could Y'Gare be talking about?

"What other assistant? All of the doctors besides McCoy are… absent."

It was Y'Gare's turn to look confused. "The other one. The features matched that of the first assistant. They both have the…" Y'Gare made a vague gesture around the drums on either side of her head. Ears. L'Nel shared ears with-

"Spock!" Chapel and Uhura spoke simultaneously. This seemed to startle the Berellians, but it answered some questions of theirs.

"Spock isn't a nurse, he's a Vulcan. They're a whole different species. He and McCoy's assistant L'Nel are of the Vulcan species, while most of the rest of us are Humans." Uhura tried to clarify this point. "Their biology differs greatly from ours, but we are allied with them in our Federation."

Y'Gare nodded. There was a lot of information passing back and forth. If nothing else, it made for great language data.

"Come, sister." S'Ghrinne grabbed Y'Gare's arm. "We must tell the others to stop now that we are free and have a –language device- to speak with."

Y'Gare readily agreed. "Yes!" To the others she said, "We must return! The people are to be released!"

There was a ripple of agreement among the guards. Most paired off with a former prisoner and they all followed Y'Gare down the corridor. Uhura walked as quickly as she could without bursting ahead of the rest of them. They had done it! In a matter of moments, they'd have their Captain back, and Mister Spock, McCoy, L'Nel, and all the starbase people. It would be over. They could open up Sickbay and tell Domanova everything. The whole plot was unraveled at last!

The party rounded another corner and found some more guards. Y'Gare went to speak with these immediately, followed closely by the remaining friends and relatives. S'Ghrinne embraced a very stately Berellian with some enthusiasm. Uhura guessed this could be cousin Dashydea the Admiral. She'd find out soon enough. The pair was approaching.

"You have rescued them?" The question was full of surprise and confusion, like it was the last thing that had been expected.

"Yes." Uhura was quick to clear it up. "They were being wrongfully held, and kept a secret from most of our people. There was a plot to study them, but we've stopped the conspirators and we're trying to make things right." She glanced at all the doorways in the hall. "We hope you will release our people as well. They don't know anything about this."

"Yes cousin." S'Ghrinne explained. So this was Admiral Dashydea. "There were only three who knew the truth. Uhura, Lieutenant, and Chapel, Lieutenant, discovered the plot and freed us. Pardon me, allow me to introduce my cousin Dashydea, Admiral."

Uhura and Chapel made Berellian bows.

"How do you do, Admiral." Chapel was anxious to get this show on the road. She had patients waiting. "Could I go to the rooms? I'm a Nurse and I can help the injured."

"You are a nurse?" Dashydea was looking at Chapel's ears. "But-"

S'Ghrinne shook his head. "It is very different here. Their people are all very different than we thought, cousin. Y'Gare can explain better. And Uhura has the –communicator- which works for our kind _and_ theirs."

Dashydea inclined her head towards Chapel. "Go to whichever room you wish. I will give the permission."

"Thank you, Admiral." Chapel nodded to Uhura once before hurrying to the closest doorway. She only had a phaser and what she'd been able to snatch from Pym's lab, but she was sure she could make something of this.

The guard at the door let her in. Chapel was prepared for it to be bad, but not this bad. The smell of those chemicals hit her first. It wasn't a pleasant odor, and that mixed with all sorts of bodily fluids was no picnic. She ignored the stares she was getting from the rest of the room and found Captain Kirk sitting in the corner. That was one question answered. That, and she knew where she was going to start.

"I'm Nurse Chapel," She addressed the room. "I'm here to rescue you." A cheer rose up from the occupants who were conscious. "We're talking with them outside. It's all a crazy misunderstanding." This was met with less amusement, but Chapel plowed on. "Let me see to the injured. You're all free to go."

One or two stood up, but most of the room's occupants started prepping the worst injured so she could examine them easier. Chapel was grateful for their cooperation. She picked her way through the crowd so she could speak with her Captain.

Kirk was in a bad way. He had bandages, but the damage looked to be a little worse than a bandaid and some cream could fix. Spock, unconscious and leaning on his shoulder, looked worse still.

"You did it." Kirk was looking up at her in amazement. "I don't know what you did, but you did it. Congratulations, Nurse."

She smiled a little and set the phaser down so she could get a better look at his wounds. "It was mostly Uhura, but we got it done. Would you believe some officers here were holding Berellian friends and family prisoner in a secret lab in the cargo bay?"

"Berellians…" Kirk began. It looked like he wanted part of the action in the hallway, but was too worn out to move. "That's… Well, that's horrible, but it's astounding, Nurse. And you both got them out? Good work." He sighed and leaned all the way onto the wall. "Check Spock first. They really worked him over in there. And speaking of- what's that about?"

"Speech bypass for the disabled, we think. Uhura's translator algorithm isn't a hundred percent accurate yet." Chapel started rolling back Spock's sleeves to get a look at the damage.

"She has an algorithm…" Kirk chuckled. "You two will never cease to amaze me." He broke into a coughing fit and Chapel had to abandon Spock to keep him upright. "Looks like I'm a little worse off than I thought, huh?"

Chapel pursed her lips and frowned at him. "I sure hope you're not allergic to any of this, James T Kirk."

"Why do you say that like it's my fault? If you'd just stick t- _HEY!"_

With whatever force he could muster, Kirk shouted the warning just as an ensign in red scooped up Chapel's phaser. He recognized one of Corbett's door guards. The ensign pushed Chapel aside and made a break for the door.

"Get him! He's trouble!" The words were barely out of Kirk's mouth before Chapel was up and after him. If this guy started shooting up the place, who knows what kind of damage he could cause? She nearly tripped over a lieutenant and an injured crewman in coveralls, but Chapel made it into the hallway quickly.

It was chaos.

The Ensign had wasted no time in taking out the guards by the door. A group of them had escaped further down with some of the prisoners. They were rushing into one of the rooms and taking cover around a corner. Uhura was nowhere in sight, so Chapel did the first thing that came to mind. She fly-tackled that sorry son-of-a-gun.

They hit the floor in a heap, but the phaser fell from the idiot's grasp and Chapel had him pinned.

"Stand down, Ensign, that's an order!"

He struggled. "I don't take orders from you! Commodore Corbett is my commanding officer, not some _nurse!_ "

Chapel smacked him for that one before retrieving the phaser. She didn't bother with any formalities. Stunning the guy seemed like the best option. Everything hadn't quite calmed down. People from the conference rooms started pouring out. Every able-bodied person was trying to crowd the hallway.

"Everybody! Hey! _Listen up!_ " She used her Nurse Voice. That got their attention. "Thank you." Chapel got up off the insubordinate ensign and dusted herself off. "Get organized, all of you! Anyone who can walk needs to start sorting the injured. I want you to get the worst cases separated and prepped for treatment. This has all been a big misunderstanding and we're sorting this out, but if I catch _one more person_ starting so much as an argument I will stun them into the 24th century! Are we clear?"

She was pleased to here several 'Yes ma'am's and 'we're clear's. Good. She'd rather not have to fight anyone else about this. At least they were all rolling with the 'new life and new civilizations' thing with some degree of calm. One hurdle at a time.

"Now, can anyone tell me who this buffoon is?"

A yeoman stepped forward and cleared his throat. "That's Harte. He's one of the Commodore's guards. He's kind of an idiot."

Chapel nodded. "Good. You all keep an eye on him. I've got to take care of these people." She cast a glance at her audience before checking over the first fallen guard. "They're called Berellians, and some of theirs have been secret prisoners on your starbase for who knows how long."

A ripple went through the crowd, but at Chapel's glare they scattered. They were finally getting somewhere.

As soon as the hall cleared, some of the guards and former prisoners returned. Uhura wasn't with them. That was alarming. She was the one with the translator.

"Uhura?" Chapel asked. She managed to single out Y'Gare, who looked more alarmed than anything else. Chapel waved her hand back and forth and tugged on the ensign's uniform shirt. "Like this one, but not him. Uhura." She sure hoped the Berellians weren't colorblind.

Y'Gare seemed to understand. She made a buzzing sound and beckoned for Chapel to follow.

"Hang on." Chapel grabbed a healthy looking Berellian and started directing triage. Luckily, they seemed to be able to figure this one out on instinct. She sure hoped the rest of the crew could get things together while she found Uhura. Chapel had to let her know she'd found the Captain.

Y'Gare led her down the hallway and around the corner where they were met with a sorry sight. Dashydea was leaned up against the wall, clutching her side and breathing heavily. The Admiral appeared to be coughing up blood. Uhura was by her side, using the translator to try and reassure her. S'Ghrinne stood by wringing his hands.

"Chris!" Uhura gestured to Dashydea and Chapel approached. "I think that lunatic hit something vital. Berellians don't react to phaser blasts the same way we do. I can't tell if that thing was set to stun or kill, but she's having a hard time breathing. She keeps mentioning 'energy', but I think it's an untranslatable word. The algorithm keeps throwing it."

Chapel was going to work with one crisis at a time. "Fill me in. I'll see what I can do." She turned to Y'Gare. "Where did you keep McCoy and the supplies?"

"They are in here." Y'Gare pointed down the hall a little ways.

"Can we move her?" Uhura asked. Dashydea looked bad. It might be better to bring her there instead of having to run back and forth for supplies.

"I think so." Chapel didn't think anything had ruptured, but McCoy would know better. "Help me carry her."

Together, they got Dashydea off the ground and Y'Gare led them to the room. Chapel steered Dashydea over to an empty table and looked around for the medkit. There were only a few empty hyposprays and bandage rolls. On top of that, there was no McCoy.

"Where is he?" Chapel looked around the room for anything else useful before locating a hand-scanner under one of the tables. There was no other sign of the room's former occupants besides goo and discarded medical supplies. Uhura decided to take this up with Y'Gare while Chapel took care of the Admiral.

Y'Gare was as confused as they were. "I do not know. Your MmCoy and the other one, they should be here unless…" She frowned momentarily before her face cleared. "The guard must have seen the Admiral go down. They… It would have seemed reasonable to retreat."

Everything dropped out of her focus except Y'Gare. Uhura lost track of Chapel and S'Ghrinne as they tended to the Admiral. Where had they taken McCoy and L'Nel? What was happening to them? "Retreat? To where?"

Y'Gare shot a glance at Dashydea before continuing. "Conceivably, back to the _Sayonelo_. To our ship."


	12. Chapter 12

To call it a 'flurry' of activity was to understate. It was a downright _blizzard_. Uhura did her best to direct traffic since she had the translator. Once everything had been explained to the 38's, things got a little easier.

It turned out that Harte was not only Corbett's door guard, but also what amounted to his personal assistant. Multiple reports confirmed that Corbett had been taken with McCoy and L'Nel, so in a sense Harte's actions weren't without reason. Fortunately for the cleanup effort, nobody else shared the ensign's ideas.

Uhura was happy to see that the Berellians were actually making friends. Many conversations were out of range of the translator, but that didn't seem to be a problem. Shared tasks made shared experiences. They were becoming familiar at least. Still, she could hardly wait until she had the means to build new translators…

Chapel came hurrying around the corner. She'd been dispatched with a group of uninjured volunteers to break into the Medbay. If Chapel was, back, that must mean they'd done it.

"We're in." The Nurse panted. "Gehrke was stable, God bless him, and Domanova regained consciousness a few minutes after we got there. He's still got temporary paralysis from the waist down. But, I do have good news." She leaned up against the wall to catch her breath. "One of the volunteers ran a diagnostic in the break room. It was just a sedative. They're all going to make it."

Uhura was visibly relieved. At least something had worked out in their favor. It had felt like too much to hope for- for Gehrke, Domanova, and the medical staff to all have made it. But that begged another question.

"And McAdam?"

"Still in restraints when we got back." Chapel stood back up and put her hands on her hips. "I handed him over to Security. They're going to make sure he doesn't cause any trouble. A group also went to pick up Wogan and those guys. I recognized one of the ensigns coming back. She said everything was in hand. Besides that, they're on their way with the stretchers. We've got enough to get the critical cases on the shuttle. It'll be a packed flight, but with the number of monitors we'll need, it's pretty much the only way."

"Good." Uhura glanced down the hallway. She was looking for her runner, the Berellian who'd gone to check the shuttles, and intercept them if she could. No sign as of yet. "We need to work on getting the critical cases to the _Enterprise_. If there's still power-"

Uhura froze. She could've sworn she just heard- _there it is again!_

"What's…" Uhura held up a hand to stall Chapel's question. She crouched down on the floor and listened carefully. This time it was unmistakable: the chirp of a communicator. In a flash, Chapel was down on her hands and knees helping to search the floor for the device. Uhura had been listening longer and found it quickly under a wadded-up uniform sleeve. She discarded the shredded article and wiped off the communicator on her own uniform. Had McCoy held onto it? He'd spoken with them at the beginning but… It must've made it this far.

" _Enterprise calling shuttle crew. Anyone on the shuttle crew, respond."_

"They've got communications back!" Chapel cried. "Go ahead! Answer them!"

"This is Lieutenant Uhura. _Enterprise,_ do you read?"

There was a crackly sigh of relief on the other end. " _You don't know how good it is to hear your voice, Lieutenant. We've only just been able to get communications back online."_

She recognized Ensign Mazara's voice. "That's wonderful, but there's something very important you need to hear."

_"I'm all ears, Lieutenant."_

Uhura took a deep breath. "You can't fire on the spherical ships." She plowed through the interruption. "I mean it, no matter what happens, you can't fire on either of them!"

Mazara was silent for a moment, and then to her surprise, Uhura heard Sulu's voice over the line.

" _Uhura, what's going on down there? We've almost put a stop to the power drain, and the warp core's about an hour from normal operation."_

"Mister Sulu." She conjured up her most authoritative voice. Time was not on their side. "We've got injured here on the Starbase that we've got to get to the _Enterprise_ on the double. Are we prepared to receive incoming shuttlecraft?"

" _Yes ma'am."_ Sulu replied. _"Is everything alright down there?"_

"No, Sulu, it's not. But, we're on our way with some injured and some guests. Just trust me, and don't fire on those ships!" She paused to chuckle. It had to sound absurd on the other end. "Would you believe it if I told you we've been down here unraveling a conspiracy?"

She could hear Sulu's sigh clearly. " _Uhura, at this point in the voyage, nothing could surprise me. I'll let you make your takeoff preparations. Keep us posted."_

"Thanks Sulu. Uhura out."

She flipped the communicator closed and turned to Chapel. "Let's get that shuttle ready to go."

Just then, the Berellian runner hurried through the doorway. Uhura held up the translator expectantly.

"They have retreated to the _Sayonelo_ , with certainty." The runner gave a little bow before continuing. "The _Hy'Geware_ is still in dire need of repair."

"Well can you contact them?"

The runner made a negative looking gesture. "Captain Shonye had the –communication device- and the one on the Hy'Geware is –not operating- so we…"

Before the runner could continue, Captain Kirk surprised them all by stumbling through the doorway. It looked like this was where everybody wanted to be.

"Captain!" Chapel leapt up, scowling. "You're supposed to be strapped in on that shuttle!" She hurried to his side.

Kirk coughed and tried to wave her off. "Had to check. Somebody said you had the leader in here. My duty… as Captain…"

Chapel ushered him into a chair. Leave it to Jim Kirk to weasel his way out of a medical transport in the name of diplomacy. Of course, he was right. Admiral Dashydea was still conscious, though her condition wasn't improving. She'd also insisted on being the last to board the shuttle. Chapel was starting to think her Captain's interruption was fortuitous.

Uhura guessed her Captain's motive and readied the translator. "Go ahead, sir." She gave him a grin. "The channel's open."

It took Kirk a bit more effort to work up a smile, but he sat up straighter in his chair. "I'd like to start off by apologizing." Dashydea turned her head at this. She hadn't expected _that_ from a man covered in wounds inflicted by her own people.

Kirk saw that look and read it right. "Let me finish. I've been informed of what you were trying to do. I won't lie- I would've probably done the same thing if it had been a group of my officers. I've met S'Ghrinne and some of the others. You've got fine people."

He had to take a breath and steady himself. Kirk was still in a bad way. "I'd like to apologize for what happened. None of this… none of this should have happened. Our Federation was founded on the idea that different peoples could exist together, in peace. One of the officers, the young Vulcan who was helping Doctor McCoy, his people put it best: Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. We believe we should all be able to exist together, to live and love without war and without fear. What happened to your people is horrible. We're going to make sure the ones responsible face justice."

Kirk broke off into a coughing fit, and Chapel had to help hold him upright.

"We've got to get them to that shuttle. There's no more time to wait around." She looked to the Berellian runner. "We need to get the Admiral to our shuttle. Pick some people."

Chapel started getting her Captain to his feet. "I've got to get everybody back. M'Benga is going to have his hands full, and I'm the only one of us who can work with this biology."

Uhura stood up. "Then you'll have to take this." She held out the translator.

Chapel stopped with one of Kirk's arms over her shoulders. "What do you mean? You're coming with us."

"I can't. Doctor McCoy and L'Nel are on the other ship. With the communications the way that they are, somebody's got to go over and set things straight."

Chapel's frown deepened. "Well then _you_ need it! I don't need the translator to tell M'Benga how these people tick! If anyone's got to diffuse some tension, it's you. How are you going to explain everything? They don't know about any of this!"

"T-… take…" Dashydea started waving a hand. "Take S'Ghrinne. He… he is proof."

That would do it. Chapel hated to admit it, but Dashydea's plan made sense. Uhura wouldn't need to use the translator so much with S'Ghrinne, who knew something of humans and their body language. And it would be awkward to operate if the patients couldn't understand… Blast it all.

"We'll have to explain the plan before we go." Uhura picked up the translator as the runner returned with reinforcements. She was surprised to find S'Ghrinne with them.

"Captain…" Dashydea summoned him over with the others. They were getting ready to take her to the shuttle. "Go with Uhura Lieutenant. Take her to the… to the Sayonelo. We will take the –communication device- to their ship."

"I will." S'Ghrinne made that bowing gesture. Uhura nodded at him and handed the device over to Dashydea herself.

"You hold on to this. As long as you have it, nothing will be shrouded in secrecy again." She locked eyes with the Admiral. This was important, perhaps more so than the Captain's speech. The Berellians had been continually kept in the dark, whether by accident or not, and it was time they opened a proper channel. One that wouldn't close, no matter what.

Chapel gave her one last grin before walking Kirk out. Dashydea's stretcher followed them. Uhura watched them leave before turning to S'Ghrinne. This would be the hardest part. They would have to find new means to communicate.

Uhura gestured towards the door. "Shall we?"

S'Ghrinne gurgled at her. She'd have to take that as a yes. To her surprise, the Captain started out the door at once. It was time to finish this.

//*\\\

L'Nel kept a watchful eye on Doctor McCoy as they were hustled down corridor after corridor. He was not certain as to where this retreat was headed, but there were several possibilities that would not offer much reassurance.

There were six guards in total, four handling Corbett, one dragging McCoy along, and one to lead the way. It was this leader that L'Nel kept his eye on. Whatever turns they took would provide information about their final destination. It was still uncertain whether the invaders had transported aboard the Starbase or not. Whatever manner of craft they could have used to enter the base might have crashed through the outer hull, thereby making whatever docking area they might find highly dangerous.

It did not appear as if they were going to be boarding anything. The next doorway opened into what L'Nel knew to be an almost powerless storage unit. This whole area was operating on low power, and had been ever since the refurbishing project had begun. Commodore Corbett was not as efficient as L'Nel may have liked, but at least he was not wasting power on these empty rooms.

The leader stopped in the center of the room and nodded to the others. McCoy was released in L'Nel's direction while his patient conversed with the rest. It was this part that L'Nel had the most trouble with. He had become aware of the process shortly after arriving here. What had initially seemed like a valuable research opportunity on 38 had proved to be what was called a 'hazing ritual'. Several female crewmembers had him sit through various Terran films, most of which fell into either the 'Romantic Comedy' or 'Horror' genre. Both times, the women in the films and the ones observing had shown the desire for emotional stress-relief procedures. He believed his companions to have been 'putting him on' for the duration of the Romance films, but a few showed genuine need during the tenser moments of the horror films.

Logical reassurance did not assuage the fears of the male protagonist in 'Under Terran Moonlight', despite the perfectly reasonable explanation offered by his best man. He required the comforting advice of his father and a 'pep talk' from his mother before embarking on an impossible journey to apologize to his betrothed. L'Nel had been assured that the impossible could be overlooked for the purpose of drama, but the observation on human psychology had proved more fascinating by far.

It was only logical that a species so inundated with emotion should require emotional stimuli to process their environments. One did not deny a Vulcan awakening from a ten-year coma an explanation of how they arrived in that position. Once things were explained logically, all would be clear. Humans did not need only to _know_ the situation was stable. That ignored at least half of their mental processes. No, regardless of how logical or intellectual a human was, there was still the need for some level of emotional feedback. L'Nel could not offer this, but from what he had observed, he could approximate an adequate substitute.

He allowed the Doctor to move as close as was necessary. Proximity was a factor, as was posture and observation. L'Nel would have to let McCoy observe that he was in fact paying attention. All of these were foreign behaviors to him. Some days, he questioned the logic in his decision to come here.

"What do you think they're gonna do?" McCoy's voice was low, regardless of the fact that this species could not understand them anyway.

"I believe we are being transferred to a different location. It would not be out of the range of possibility to surmise that we will be transported to their ship. I suspect that they are discussing their options."

McCoy did not look relieved. "And the firefight? Do you think that was an escape? Some of ours fighting back?"

"It is possible." L'Nel observed the Doctor's reaction closely. "At our rate of retreat, I suspect that the crew is a threat to their operation. Also, this group does not appear to wish us harm. I believe that we are safe unless the situation changes drastically."

"Define drastically…" McCoy stood well within L'Nel's personal space. Yet, it did not seem appropriate to reject this proximity. _For the sake of the Doctor's psychology_ , L'Nel repeated in his mind.

The guards began their shrill conversation again, but this time the rest began to move in turn. Corbett's handlers had been reduced to the two largest, who suspended the Commodore between them. The other two took up positions on either side of McCoy and L'Nel. Neither made any further moves.

McCoy's patient retrieved a device from his belt, preferably not a weapon. There was more trilling. It was a communicator then.

The next instant, everything turned upside-down. There was a tremendous pressure and some sort of static that made the nerves vibrate from L'Nel's toes all the way up to his ears. The sensation was not pleasant.

In a few moments, it was over. The residual tingling slackened off, and L'Nel felt McCoy grab his arm. They were no longer aboard Starbase 38. This was some kind of transporter room, but not very similar to the ones of Federation design. The transporter itself appeared to have adversely affected Doctor McCoy, and L'Nel could not say he came through untouched.

"I hate those things." The Doctor muttered. "Always have, and with good reason looks like. What did they do, run our atoms through a dry cycle before spitting us out here?" There was a fine layer of sweat on McCoy's brow. L'Nel observed that his own body was still in the process of determining equilibrium.

They were gestured at, presumably with instructions to step off the transporter pad. "Come Doctor." L'Nel said. "Perhaps they will show us to their Sickbay. I doubt they will refuse us any medical equipment that you require."

And that was all it took to get McCoy to release him. L'Nel logged every new input and spent their walk going over his data regarding the Doctor, regarding human responses to fear, regarding Commander Spock… Spock. It had been apparent from their first interaction that the Commander had mastered human psychology. Whether or not he deemed it appropriate to apply L'Nel's techniques- _or are these methods incorrect, therefore giving the Commander no need of them? I will have to meditate on this-_ was another matter. Commander Spock had maintained absolute composure even around such volatile humans as Doctor McCoy, had even applied his mind to the logical dismissal of the Doctor's fears and later the method for which McCoy should be reined in.

Spock had exhibited a mastery L'Nel had never seen among Vulcans before. Although, he did not know many experts. Commander Spock, having served over a decade on a human ship, definitely qualified.

They arrived at their destination. L'Nel had been right. This looked to be the Sickbay. Commodore Corbett was transferred to one of only three beds in the room. There was only one other door, and from L'Nel could see, this was an office. Was their Sickbay so small? Was their _ship_ much smaller than he had anticipated? It stood to reason, since their landing party could not be more than fifteen people- and that was only estimation- which was a very small invasion force.

McCoy moved to Corbett's side. He'd retained his hand scanner, but made an attempt to determine how this technology worked.

L'Nel took the opportunity to consider his phaser. When he had advised McCoy to take one from the armory, he could not have guessed that the Doctor would hide it so well inside the medical kit. L'Nel had come across it just before the firefight broke out. Now, he might have a means to facilitate their escape.

Something stopped him mid-thought. He remembered McCoy's distress over the invader's response to phaser blasts. Their biology and the energy given off by phasers, even on the stun setting, did not mix well. McCoy might be angry with him if he took this opportunity. But wasn't it the logical decision?

He didn't have time to decide. The Doctor's old patient came through the doors next, holding one of the alien weapons. This was trained on L'Nel. Some gestures were made, and it seemed logical to assume that L'Nel was to follow wherever he was led.

McCoy looked up. The beginnings of a frown creased his face. "They want you to go with them, don't they?" He'd been eyeing the three guards by the outer door. L'Nel could see the conflicting emotions cross the Doctor's face. One of the alien crewmembers, presumably someone medical, offered McCoy a roll of purple bandages. The Doctor accepted gratefully.

"I have to stay here… I…" He looked down at the bandages and back to L'Nel. "You come back in one piece, you hear?"

It was reasonable to assume he was being led away for questioning. L'Nel could make no promises, but he understood. They way the situation had unfolded, he was the last familiar face McCoy had. "I will do all in my power." Not a promise. That wasn't logical.

"You'd better." The Doctor's face was unreadable. L'Nel resolved to make good their escape at the soonest possible moment. He could figure out that transporter technology given enough time. There was the possibility of conducting a mind meld on one of the aliens, but he did not have much confidence in that approach. No, he would have to escape with McCoy by his own means.

The guards led him down the corridor. He was not sure where he would end up.

//*\\\

"I don't understand." Uhura had to have said it a dozen times. S'Ghrinne was trying his best, but the language barrier was wide, and their time was running out. Captain Shonye could very well leave the Starbase if he so chose. They had to get to the _Sayonelo._

S'Ghrinne made what was probably an exasperated noise and pointed to the console again. They were in the shuttle bay once more, this time their focus was near the dummy shuttle, but not so close as to be another access point to the lab. S'Ghrinne pointed at the console again, pleadingly.

There was something she had to do. Uhura knew S'Ghrinne wouldn't waste her time. She scanned the panel again, hoping for something to pop out at her. Nothing was forthcoming. The only thing around here that stood out was that blasted generator. The thing had wires coming out all sorts of places, cords leading goodness knows where…

Cords… Uhura examined the console again and found the power controls. She eliminated the standard switches and buttons and moved on to the special features. There were some shuttle-bay-specific controls here- what looked like the hangar lights, storage room locks, pressure controls- and any one of them could be the ticket.

She axed pressure controls first. That would be too dangerous even for an idiot like Pym to try and mess around with. Next were the lights. Chapel's shuttle had already gone, so there was really no one in the shuttle bay who needed the lights for the next few minutes at least. Uhura flicked the switch. There were a few surprised shouts, but other than that nothing changed except the sudden darkness.

"Two down…" She examined the storage controls. 38 kept parts and fuel under the floor in some sections of the shuttle bay. Maybe one of those compartments had the thing S'Ghrinne was after.

"Alright. Let's try this. _Opening floor panels! Everyone get clear!_ " She set all the doors to open. Crewmen scurried out of the way, and S'Ghrinne took off towards one opening compartment in particular. Uhura moved to follow him.

The doors had barely reached the halfway mark before S'Ghrinne dropped in. Uhura hurried after him, hoping that he hadn't just lost his mind.

No. No, S'Ghrinne was sane. This Starbase wasn't getting any saner, though. The lucky floor panel had been concealing some sort of arc-shaped craft. It was small, a little smaller than your average shuttle, but it looked to be in good condition. How it had remained hidden for so long... Uhura had to believe that Pym's gang operated on sheer dumb luck!

S'Ghrinne was already fiddling with the door controls by the time Uhura managed to lower herself into the compartment. "Am I to assume this is the famous _Ge'Heda_?" She smiled, but S'Ghrinne spared only a glance before the door slid open and he was off like a shot. Uhura followed him into the tiny vessel. She was curious to see what their ships were like. What differences did the Berellian biological makeup require? Were there any universal constants in space vessel design?

The interior of the _Ge'Heda_ was warm. That was the first surprise. The second was the air's moisture content. She supposed the little ship had been here for some time, allowing the moisture to build up or something. She didn't do atmosphere unless it pertained to getting a signal.

S'Ghrinne was up to his elbows in the main controls. The cockpit looked remarkably like the ones Uhura was used to, only there didn't seem to be very much life in the controls. The _Ge'Heda_ was probably starved for power since their energy systems were incompatible. But, S'Ghrinne looked like he had a few tricks up his sleeves. He was splicing wires in a dangerous looking fashion. Uhura was forced to sit back and watch while he worked. She didn't want to get electrocuted before they'd even left the Starbase, thank you very much.

But, it didn't take S'Ghrinne too long. A little light flickered to life, and soon he was buzzing away at the panel. It reminded her of Scotty, how he talked to the engines and the _Enterprise's_ inner workings. It reminded her that he was laid up in Sickbay with a punctured lung after refusing to leave said workings in order to save the ship. Sometimes, she didn't know whether to kiss him or kill him.

After a moment, S'Ghrinne beckoned Uhura to come closer. She leaned over the panel to see what he was working with when he grabbed her arm. Uhura raised an eyebrow at that. S'Ghrinne's expression worked through several states, before settling on something that seemed to say 'I'm sorry, but you're gonna have to trust me'.

"Whatever you're doing, go for it." She nodded to give her words more context. S'Ghrinne nodded back.

That was when the tingling started in her toes. Next thing she knew, she was bracing herself against S'Ghrinne's side and trying hard not to be sick. That would be a fine way to blow a first contact. In another few seconds, she straightened up. The _Ge'Heda_ had either gotten a lot bigger or…

"Well S'Ghrinne, I guess we're not in Kansas anymore."


	13. Chapter 13

Nurse Chapel didn't just have her hands full. Both arms, both hands, and one knee were engaged in keeping her Captain upright. The great big idiot had decided he needed off the shuttle first. Chapel disagreed, but what in this galaxy could stop James 'The T is for Torpedo' Kirk from barreling into whatever he wanted? He was out the door before she could safely drop another patient.

"Captain." Exasperation didn't even begin to cover it. She'd been through an absolute disaster and had managed to drag his sorry carcass out of the fire, so the least he could do was cooperate. "You stop that right this minute or I'm cutting sweets off your meal card."

Kirk was trying to right himself and failing. He'd stolen the PADD with a copy of the algorithm and was on a mission. Spock was going by on a stretcher, and that seemed to amp up his determination. "Nurse, I've got to get to the Bridge. We have to negotiate with the _Sayonelo_ while there's still time."

Blast it all, he was heavy. Chapel planted her feet and tried to keep him upright. Where the heck was her help? Maybe nobody else wanted to tangle with the angry Captain. Maybe they were big fat chickens, all of them.

"Captain! Sulu's on the Bridge, and he can talk his way out of most anything. I'm sure we can patch in a comm from Sickbay with instructions, _if you have to_." Too bad she didn't have any more hypos. This could've been over five minutes ago. Unfortunately, Jim Kirk was the worst patient the _Enterprise_ had ever seen, and likely would ever see. He found a way to wriggle out of her grip before he made a break for the turbolift.

" _James Tiberius Kirk,_ you get back here this instant!" Chapel managed to catch him in the turbolift. For a man half dead, the Captain was awfully fast. He grabbed the handle before she could stop him.

"Bridge."

"No!" Chapel countered. " _Not_ Bridge! Medical override, authorization-"

"Captain's _double-override_ take me to the Bridge now!"

"Captain, that's not even a real thing!"

Kirk slouched against the wall, glaring and holding one hand over the control panel. He was one determined son-of-a-gun, Chapel had to give him that. It seemed like he was going to go sit in that chair if it killed him. But, would he listen to her when it did?

The doors opened and he stumbled around to his chair. Sulu vacated, just as Chapel hollered, "Stop him!"

Several things happened at once.

Uhura's replacement- it was Leslie, bless him- leapt up and collided with Chekov, who'd been at Spock's station with the same idea. Sulu nearly fell over backwards trying to turn around while his feet were getting out of Kirk's way. Lieutenant Brent was blocked by Sulu between the chair and the navigation console, and everyone behind the railing was completely useless.

No one could get there in time to stop Kirk from hitting the floor, out cold.

"Everybody out of the way!" Chapel stormed over to the Captain and rolled him over. She was going to take him off sweets anyway at this rate. All that work on his part, and he passed out before his seat hit the seat. _Just beautiful_. _Serves him right._

Chapel checked his pulse. It was passable, as far as pulses went. Either way, she was at the end of her tether and just about ready to bite the head off the next person that so much as posed a question to her.

"Is he OK? Should we call a medical team?"

The only reason Leslie remained alive was because his suggestion was the first reasonable thing Chapel had heard for hours. "Yes, and do it on the double before I kill him myself!" No one challenged the Nurse or her mutinous comments. The Beta Shift had a little more common sense.

Sulu shifted his weight back and forth. He wasn't sure whether or not it would be appropriate to retake command with his Captain passed out in front of the chair. Brent went back to his station and Chekov followed suit.

"Um… Nurse Chapel, we've got that team on the way, but I have another transmission coming in."

" _What?_ " She snapped before continuing more calmly, "Where from?"

"From… I don't quite know. It's a bunch of static, sounds like. We only just got communications online, so it could be-"

"On audio, let me hear it."

The buzz-clicking played across the Bridge. Chapel sighed. "Hang on a second." She leaned over Kirk's unconscious body and pried the PADD from his grasp. "Sulu, watch him."

Sulu was willing to comply, and Chapel brought the slime-covered device to Leslie's station. "Patch this into the computers and run that algorithm. It'll comb out that static pretty nicely."

Leslie ignored the goo and did what he was told. He popped open the panel under the console and wired that sucker in. Uhura's slap-dash work with the PADD made it easier to interface with the ship's systems. In no time flat, the signal was spiting out words instead of static.

" _This is ship Sayonelo calling second enemy vessel. Enemy vessel, we have your healers and commanding officer. Please return your prisoners or we will be… forced to execute ours."_

Chapel took a deep breath. "Get me that ship, now! Sulu, Brent, can you get us a visual? The _Sayonelo_ is one of those spherical ships. They have Doctor McCoy, Commodore Corbett, and a Lieutenant from 38."

Sharp's the word and quick is the action. Sulu had the visual up in no time flat, and began working on locking their weapons on the craft. Brent had calculated the intercept course. Chapel may as well have put the ship on Red Alert.

In a few more moments, a picture of their bridge replaced the image of the Sayonelo in space. There was an officer dressed almost like Dashydea, but with one less vertical stripe on the tunic. Five other Berellians were at their stations. There was no sign of the prisoners.

"Leslie, we live?" Chapel whispered. She stood with her shoulders back, head high, and her hands clasped behind her. Other then the unconscious heap on the floor, she was the only one informed enough to address the Berellian ship. Leslie nodded at her, and she returned her attention to the _Sayonelo_.

"This is Chapel, Lieutenant, speaking on behalf of the Federation starship _Enterprise_. Your Admiral is onboard with us, and she and the former prisoners are receiving attention in our medical facilities. Who am I speaking to?"

The Berellians all seemed taken aback by the sound of their own language. " _You have discovered –communication-?"_ There was that concept again. Uhura would be pitching a fit trying to work that one out if she was here.

"Yes. You can thank Uhura, Lieutenant, for that. She and I found and released your explorers from the… large vessel. Are you Captain…" She struggled for the name. "…Shawn? I'm a friend of S'Ghrinne's."

A wave of chatter spread across the Berellian Bridge. It was apparent she was speaking to a Captain by the way the Berellian straightened.

 _"I am Shonye, Captain, yes. If you are, as you say, a friend of S'Ghrinne, Captain, then where is he? And where is Dashydea, Admiral?"_ He seemed irritated, perhaps at the mispronunciation, but probably at the fact that he didn't have all the information. Or a reason to trust her.

"The Admiral is here on the _Enterprise._ She was hurt in the firefight and we are attending to her injuries. The last time I saw S'Ghrinne, he was trying to get back onto your ship."

 _"Why can I not speak to my Admiral? I wish to hear this story verified."_ Shonye didn't look happy.

"The Admiral is…" 'In surgery' sounded pretty bad, considering the kind of torture that had already been inflicted. It might sound like retaliation, especially to a paranoid guy like this. Shonye didn't strike her as the kind of guy who would take anything at face value. Chapel definitely remembered S'Ghrinne's reaction to seeing him in the interrogation room. Shonye's appearance was no surprise.

"You can't see the Admiral now. She's with some of the former prisoners and the other officers."

Shonye's stance shifted. Maybe it was just instinct, but Chapel felt like she'd said the wrong thing.

_"You keep saying former prisoners, Chapel, Lieutenant. I do not think that is what they are."_

That was an accusation if she'd ever heard one. Shonye flipped a switch on his own Captain's chair, and then there were newcomers on the bridge. Two or three guards escorted a figure in a black shirt. Chapel couldn't tell who it was, considering the poor guy looked unconscious. It wasn't McCoy, though. She didn't know if it was good or bad that she'd recognize that man unconscious. The same went for the Captain and Mister Spock. But, that was a problem for another day. This guy was clearly not Berellian.

The guards propped him up and one lifted his head so Chapel could see. She gasped.

_"I am proposing a trade, Chapel, Lieutenant. Your healers and your commanding officer for our people. I am sure you know what we can do."_

"Don't." Chapel bit her lip, trying to figure out just how she'd dug the hole so deep. Somehow she'd gone from astonishing to antagonizing in the course of one conversation.

Luckily for L'Nel, she had backup.

The _Sayonelo's_ bridge got another few visitors. Captain Shonye turned in surprise. He hadn't ordered reinforcements. He certainly hadn't ordered a Starfleet officer either.

"Nyota!"

A cheer rang out on the _Enterprise_ as she and S'Ghrinne hurried to Captain Shonye. No one made a move, but there was a huge feeling of relief all around. If anyone could talk them out of this, Uhura could.

"Shonye, Captain, please do not hurt… Vulcan, Lieutenant?" He turned to face his own view screen and made a Berellian bow to Chapel. "Chapel, Lieutenant, I see you have returned well." He made no mention of the unconscious Captain, who was being hustled out by the freshly arrived medical team.

"S'Ghrinne, Captain." She smiled. "Boy, am I glad to see you both!"

Shonye's face was still slack with disbelief. "S'Ghrinne, you have been missing for… Why are you with them? This one," he pointed at Uhura, "And Chapel, Lieutenant? They have captured the Admiral, your cousin!"

"No, Shonye. Y'Gare is with the Admiral. On the ship _Enterprise_ , they have medicines and –communications. This is Uhura, Lieutenant, and she came to help me tell."

S'Ghrinne nodded to Uhura and she stepped forward and gave Shonye a Berellian bow. "Shonye, Captain, I'm glad to finally meet you. We have much to discuss."

The _Sayonelo_ was deadly quiet.

The blood drained from Chapel's face. Their audio on the _Enterprise_ was being filtered through Uhura's algorithm, but the Lieutenant herself had no such aid. She was high and dry over there.

"Shonye, Captain…" Chapel began, looking intently at Uhura, "I'm glad to finally meet you."

All eyes were back on her. She had the communication, and Uhura had the words. They'd have to work together to stop these hostilities and get everyone on the same page.

Uhura had been inwardly kicking herself. Of course, Shonye couldn't understand her. And she couldn't understand him. She'd have to rely on Chapel's end of the transmission to make sure the message got across. It was odd, for once in her life being the one without the Rosetta Stone. Most days, she could speak what everyone else couldn't. Now, she was going to learn this blasted Berellian language as soon as she had a reliable algorithm and a means for creating those moisture textures, but she would have to wait.

"We have much to discuss." Chapel said for her again. Uhura gave her a quick smile and turned back to Shonye. She'd address him directly out of respect. That was important for a first contact- respect.

Shonye made some buzzing noises and Chapel filled in. "Uhura, Lieutenant, I understand you are the one who achieved communication?"

"Yes, Shonye, Captain. I developed it from some data I had collected, as well as from the people keeping your explorers- and S'Ghrinne- captive." She paused to let Chapel relay that before going on. "They were wrongfully kept, and in secret. As soon as we learned of them, we made sure to get them out. What we wish for in our Federation is peace and friendly relations, not hostility and conflict."

"Then why were ours kept? I understand why they were hidden, if Federation is like you say, but why were ours taken?" It seemed Shonye wished to understand. He wanted answers primarily, as opposed to ideologies and promises.

"We don't really know. Those responsible were keeping records and getting data, but their motivations are still unclear. They studied your people and their vessels, but they kept their reasons as much of a secret as their actions."

Shonye paused to think. He was being offered the olive branch, but it looked like the same characteristics that had led him to flee with McCoy and L'Nel were coming back into play.

"I wish to have more word. S'Ghrinne, my concern is for the Admiral. How can we know they mean this peace?"

Chapel tried translating the discussion between S'Ghrinne and Shonye, but much of the exchange was too fast for her to keep up with. Uhura just shrugged and Chapel shrugged back.

When Shonye finally stepped back to attention, he addressed Uhura again. "Uhura, Lieutenant, I apologize for my conduct. Your words are true."

"No apologies needed, Shonye, Captain. I can understand why you wish to be careful. I understand the _Hy'Geware_ was damaged about as bad as the _Enterprise_."

"Is truth. Ship _Hy'Geware_ sustained heavy damage in the confrontation. We feared we would all have to board Ship _Sayonelo_ to return home. Of course, that plan did not include our making allies/friends."

Chapel shrugged. "It spit out 'allies/friends'. I think we've run across another one of those…"

"Untranslatables. It's all right. This happens with every language, even all the old Terran ones."

Chapel was obliged to explain the source of humor. Shonye was very understanding. Now that they'd gotten a chance to know him, Uhura decided he wasn't all too different from Scotty. Both were capable of defending their own and putting on a hard face to back it up, but Shonye- though more reserved than Scotty for sure- was perfectly amiable after the confusion had cleared.

"If you wish-" He began with Chapel getting back in to parrot, "-to tend to your… Vulcan?" Shonye turned back to Chapel. "Vulcan?"

"Vulcan. He's called L'Nel." There was a hint of worry in her voice, but it appeared all would be seen to momentarily.

"My thanks. We do not understand how it is your people –operate- and now I am told his is another species again!" Shonye made a trilling noise Uhura could recognize as laughter. "I will, I think, be glad to learn."

Something in Uhura's gut untangled and she could feel her shoulders relaxing as she nodded. The three of them- her, Shonye, and S'Ghrinne- hurried to L'Nel's side. Uhura could tell right away what the issue was. L'Nel had been through a few rounds of Berellian 'communication'

"L'Nel?" She was careful to navigate around his arms, not wanting to touch near the tears and the exposed skin. There were bruises and welts aplenty, bright with green and much fresher than those she'd seen on Spock. The Lieutenant appeared to be unconscious.

Uhura spoke up loud enough for Chapel to hear. "He's not looking too good. We need to get these covered and figure out how to counteract chemical burns on a Vulcan."

Chapel was giving orders to Lieutenant Leslie, presumably to enhance the view screen image. The more she could see, the better.

"Get him bandages. Better yet, have them get Doctor McCoy."

There was a sharp buzzing noise and Captain Shonye hit the floor. Uhura could only stare, slack-jawed, as he writhed. The purple flesh darkening so quickly and so much it was almost black… The smell of new metal. _Phaser fire._

"See how you like it…" Commodore Corbett muttered, still leveling the Berellian weapon at them. Louder, he addressed the room. "Sorry, but Doctor McCoy won't be joining you here on the Bridge. In fact, I don't think any of the medical personnel will see reason to do so ever again. This is my ship now, Lieutenant. Looks like you've been pressed into the service."

Chapel leapt up from the Captain's chair, already shouting, but Corbett fired on a control panel and the screen went dark. Uhura could tell at once that it wasn't the world's luckiest shot. No, Corbett knew where to shoot. It meant he knew Berellian tech. It meant he'd been with this from the start.

"You don't deserve that uniform, _Commodore_. Or that title." She spoke quietly, but with all the contempt Corbett deserved. The anger in her stomach broiled. She kept a hand on S'Ghrinne's arm in part to keep him down. Corbett was trigger-happy. It wouldn't take much for him to open fire again.

Corbett snorted, unconcerned. "Fine. We'll get new duds and I'll be the Admiral. Fair enough? I'm tired, Lieutenant. Tired of the Federation and its reactive nature. React, react, react! What do we do if we find a new and hostile people? Wait for them to get the warp drive and the weapons and the fleets together to go to war instead of _taking action_ and stopping the threat before it can make casualties."

His grip on the phaser rifle was unwavering. Corbett was as collected as she'd ever seen him. Of course, the hints of the nervous man behind the desk were still there- the way his face twitched between expressions like he was a robot changing emotional protocol.

"What's the point of having Vulcans in Starfleet if they're not doing anything for strategy? They should be able to help predict attacks and help target enemy weaknesses. But what are they all? Scientists? _Diplomats?_ No help at all! No help at all…" The barrel was drifting towards L'Nel. Uhura had to think fast.

"And what about Doctor McCoy? He'll never help you on this… _insane_ mission! I'm sure you've seen how he treats his patients with the utmost respect. He would never-"

"He would _absolutely._ " Corbett cut her off with some irritation. As long as the rifle was pointed her way, L'Nel and the others were out of danger. She doubted he'd shoot her unless she said something really incendiary. Still, it wouldn't hurt to use a little more caution. Corbett was a loose canon.

"He would." Corbett continued in the face of her disbelief. "If he has patients, he'll tend to them. He'll learn about what makes them tick. I can reverse engineer a bit of this and that, and of course no man is immune to enough of the right kind of persuasion." He leered at the two of them there, huddled around L'Nel and Captain Shonye. Uhura's heart sank. Corbett knew McCoy would care for the injured, no matter who that person might be. From the looks of the bandaging on Corbett's arms, the Commodore knew it very well.

S'Ghrinne gurgled something unpleasant sounding. Uhura knew the feeling. Corbett was a dirty snake, and it looked like he was going to cause a lot of hurt for a lot of people.

"So caging all the Berellians, was that _the right kind of persuasion?_ "

Corbett didn't laugh or give any response to her tone, only her question. "Sure, sure. It was two birds with one stone, really. We got to gather information on the scouts- my kind of first contact let me tell you- while the ships back home got nervous enough to come after them. Now I've got enough firepower to cripple a Klingon D7 with a single shot! Who knows what kind of havoc it'll wreak on a Romulan cloaking device? This Berellian energy is going to make the Federation see what kinds of mistakes they've been making."

She could hear the phaser rifle charging. Corbett obviously had enough time to get familiar with their tech. Uhura slid in front of S'Ghrinne sitting defiantly in the way of Corbett's plans.

"You'll have to go through me first. I hope you have fun deciphering their language all by yourself."

Corbett sniffed and raised the weapon. "It's one mother of a stun setting, but you'll live. Besides, Doctor McCoy has quite an attitude. _Somebody's_ got to bandage him up after my adjustments. I think you'll find yourself being _very_ useful to me Lieutenant. Very useful indeed. Say goodbye to these alien rejects."

"That is, I believe, a _no-can-do._ "

Two shots were fired before anyone could react. Both hit Corbett square in the chest, sending him to the floor in a heap. The rest of the Bridge responded at once. Officers who'd become statues after their captain had been shot now leapt into action, surrounding Corbett and hurrying to offer assistance.

Uhura turned around in time to see the little hand phaser drop to the ground. L'Nel's arm drooped. He looked like he was going to fall out of the chair at any moment. S'Ghrinne leaned forward and pushed L'Nel's shoulders back. Something flicked across the Lieutenant's face momentarily.

"You will… need to access their Sickbay. Corbett…" L'Nel coughed and S'Ghrinne held him in place. "…escaped… McCoy may have been injured." He started trying to sit up, but S'Ghrinne didn't seem willing to let him go. L'Nel surprised the captain with his Vulcan strength, but Uhura decided to stop this before it went further.

"Let him up." She moved around S'Ghrinne's hands and pulled L'Nel towards her.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Uhura. We must hurry." He seemed worried. Of course, Uhura was worried too, but if anyone would have the facts to back up the concern it would be L'Nel.

She and S'Ghrinne helped him to his feet. A huge Berellian had picked up Captain Shonye bridal style, and was heading for the turbolift. S'Ghrinne trilled something to the others and they all converged on the smoking console. Communications had to be re-established. It seemed everything was in hand, momentarily.

Uhura and S'Ghrinne managed with an arm each over their shoulders. L'Nel was still shaky on his feet. It was a miracle he'd been able to hit Corbett with such accuracy.

"L'Nel, what's going on here? How could Corbett have escaped? And where's Doctor McCoy?"

L'Nel was breathing hard, but he held up a hand to pause her interrogation. Maybe it was Vulcan physiology, but he looked worse than even the Captain had.

"He… likely fooled us again." L'Nel managed. "Once before, the Commodore-… Unimportant. McCoy is in the Sickbay. He would… not leave a patient." Something in the Vulcan's expression darkened, but he said no more.

When the lift stopped, they let Captain Shonye's attendant go first. The big Berellian also led the way to the _Sayonelo's_ Sickbay. Uhura and S'Ghrinne did their best to keep L'Nel at a sedate pace, but he was mighty determined to get there as quickly as possible.

Shonye and the crewmember disappeared through a doorway and Uhura aimed to follow suit. It was the Sickbay all right, but she couldn't have anticipated this.

The doctors- she presumed they were doctors- were all standing around the examination beds. In his escape, Corbett had used the Sickbay's restraints to basically handcuff everyone where they stood. She spotted McCoy at the back, sporting a black eye and trying to calm one of the Berellian doctors.

"Hush now, darlin'. It ain't so bad as it looks. I've seen y'all take a hit and I can tell you he's gonna be just- _Uhura! L'Nel!_ "

Most heads turned at the Doctor's shout. Some of them started at the sight of S'Ghrinne. Shonye's stretcher turned around to give them a cursory glance before attending to the next closest doctor.

"Doctor McCoy!" Uhura led the 'rescue party' over to his examination table and arranged for L'Nel to lie down.

"Uhura, sweetheart, you have no idea how glad I am to see you. I've been havin' one heck of a time. And you- son, you better stop fussin' and get in that bed before I have to make you."

L'Nel quirked an eyebrow but began to comply. "Doctor, I fail to see… how you can act on any threats from your position."

Once L'Nel was reclining somewhat, Uhura and S'Ghrinne started freeing doctors.

"You would be surprised." McCoy left it at that and went back to holding the Berellian doctor's hand. "Uhura, please tell me you took care of Corbett before you made your way down here. He made a fuss and scared the daylights outta these poor folks. On top of that, I think he means to take the Bridge."

Uhura turned his companion loose and sighed. "He gave it a good try but L'Nel managed to stun him before he did much more than shoot the captain. That's Shonye over there in the other bed. Corbett wasn't trying to kill him, I don't think, but that had to have hurt."

McCoy's companion gave his arm a squeeze before hurrying over to Shonye's bedside. "Can't pronounce her name, but she hasn't been doin' so good since Corbett broke out. Heck, he gave me a piece of his mind before he headed off. I reckon with a maniac like that loose, she's got a reason to be jumpy."

"She, Doctor?"

"Yes, 'course. I'm a medical man, Lieutenant. And I'll have you know that by my estimation, about 60 percent of this crew is female including that lovely bulldozer what came in with Captain So-an-so." He shook out his wrists before taking Uhura by the shoulders and grinning. "You're a miracle, y'know that?"

Uhura smiled back, glad to have McCoy safe and sound. "What can I say? On this crazy ship, you've got to have a few miracles ready." She brushed off any more formalities and pulled him in for a hug. "I'm getting _at least_ five days approved leave after this. You need to promise."

McCoy sighed next to her ear and she could feel his body relaxing. It seemed he'd been through the ringer same as her, and she was glad to be a comfort. Chris would be thrilled to get him back whole, she knew, and the fear of finding him hurt was a distant memory.

"You're getting _at least_ two weeks, even if I have to put in the order myself." He rubbed a hand across her shoulder before pulling back. "You and Christine. And I'm writing Starfleet for him-" He jabbed a thumb in L'Nel's direction, "-to get a promotion."

"Really, Doctor…" L'Nel coughed. "Such merits hardly-"

"Oh let me have the last word _for once._ " McCoy eased away and joined S'Ghrinne at L'Nel's bedside. "You made it back in one piece, alright, but it doesn't put you on the high-ground here. What did they do, get at you with a cattle prod?"

Uhura went back to releasing doctors. It seemed that- finally- the worst of it was over. She stood back while McCoy fussed over L'Nel and the other doctors tended to Shonye. S'Ghrinne stood next to her in companionable silence. They didn't need a translator to understand. Most everything was right in the world.

A little while later, another crewmember appeared in the doorway. Most of the doctors ignored the newcomer and went about their work, but McCoy took interest.

"Heya, stranger. Long time no see. You done interrogatin' for the day?" He cracked a smile. The Berellian responded somewhat in kind, exchanging vibrations with S'Ghrinne before pulling up to L'Nel's sickbed.

Uhura must've been giving them a look because McCoy jumped in to clarify. "He's been with us from the beginning. L'Nel and I patched him up and he's been posted with us ever since. I reckon he's come down to apologize for tryin' to electrocute the Lieutenant here."

The Berellian did bow towards L'Nel, and the Vulcan inclined his head in turn. "I suppose this is the most appropriate response. I can not adequately express the absence of ill-will on my part."

"We can always tell him later. I think I remember Y'Gare- S'Ghrinne's sister- talking about him. He's called Ganowo, I'm pretty sure."

L'Nel nodded again. "I will remember."

Ganowo bowed once more before seeking out S'Ghrinne. They spoke quickly and before Uhura knew it, she was being hustled out into the corridor. "Be back in a little while!" She called over her shoulder. Whatever had gotten into these two must be important.

Her hunch was right. They were headed straight for the Bridge. More of the crew had joined the original set to repair the communications console, and by the sound of things, they had done it. One officer was buzzing into a retractable microphone while another examined the readout.

_"Well, whatever you say. Hy'Mar, Lieutenant, if you could tell me when Uhura gets back, I'd like to talk with her."_

Uhura took the opportunity to join the conversation. "Hi, Chris, I'm here. How are things on your end?"

She could hear the crackling sigh of relief. _"Just fine. I heard L'Nel killed Corbett, but then he wasn't dead so they locked him up, and Captain Shonye was dead, but now he's not and Nyota, I just don't know."_

It sounded like Chapel's troubles had begun the moment Uhura's ended. This was a good reminder that, no, they hadn't sorted it all out yet.

"I can give you the quick version or the long version, Chris."

" _The quick one, please."_

"Alright." Uhura paused a moment to collect her thoughts. "You've probably guessed that Corbett's behind all of this. Turns out, he wanted to get ahold of a Berellian ship so he could go attack the Klingons and the Romulans himself."

" _…No!"_

"Yes!" It seemed outrageous, but Corbett had almost pulled it off. "I could hardly believe it myself. He'd escaped from the _Sayonelo's_ Sickbay and tied up all the doctors before hitting the Bridge and-"

" _McCoy? He's alright?"_

"Yes Chris." Uhura smiled, imagining the warm reception they'd be getting back on the _Enterprise_. "I'll get to him in a second. Long story short, L'Nel had managed to pocket a phaser and he stunned Corbett hard enough to keep him out for hours. They're keeping him in the brig and L'Nel and Captain Shonye are in Sickbay. McCoy got in a little argument with Corbett, he says, but he's no worse for wear."

There was a pause. Chapel was likely collecting herself on the other end. " _Thank goodness. I can't wait to have all of you back. I'm sure the Captain is as anxious as any, if he's woken up yet."_

"Chris?"

Chapel chuckled. " _He made a break from the shuttle and passed out at the foot of the chair. I'm sure it would've been funnier if I didn't have to turn around and talk Shonye down. When are you all coming back? There are lots of people who'd like to speak with us."_

Uhura looked to S'Ghrinne, who made a vague gesture with his hands.

"I'd say any time you like."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is an upcoming epilogue yet to be written. Stay tuned.


	14. Epilogue

If Chapel had a list of patients as long as her arm, Uhura had a list of appointments maybe a little bit longer. Everybody and their proverbial dog would want to either take a look at the translation algorithm or use it.

She wouldn’t be able to get a moment’s rest, she knew, from the moment she’d beamed back onto the ship with Doctor McCoy, L’Nel, and S’Ghrinne. Captain Shonye was in recovery, but adamantly refused to leave his ship. Uhura figured he might protest so vehemently to keep his doctor from giving the orders. Captains were control freaks across the board. It was interesting to see a familiar trait manifesting in an unfamiliar culture.

S’Ghrinne provided a slightly more humorous example of this. When they’d all beamed over from the _Sayonelo_ , Chapel had met them in the transporter room with the translator. The captain of the _Ge’Heda_ swayed on his feet until Uhura caught one arm and McCoy caught the other. It seemed that even their transporter technology was not precisely compatible.

“I understand now, Uhura, your discomfort in transporting.” S’Ghrinne looked pale. It seemed he might be sick all over the transporter pad.

McCoy picked up on this quickly and walked the captain down. “You an’ me both.” The advent of communication was immediately put to use. “That atom scrambler y’all have is as bad for me, I guarantee. I’m never givin’ Scotty a hard time about this thing again.”

The moment S’Ghrinne was right on his feet, McCoy was swept off his. Chapel had him ‘round the middle in a big bear hug and she wasn’t keen on letting go. McCoy’s toes were left a moment to dangle before he was deposited back on the ground. This was his chance to hug her back.

“You big idiot.” Chapel murmured down at his shoulder. “What were you thinking?” McCoy took a breath to speak but Chapel squeezed him tighter. “Don’t answer that. I know, I know.” She pulled back. “I was worried about you.”

McCoy ran his thumb back and forth across her upper arm. He exhaled through his nose. “I’d be lying if I said I _wasn’t_ worried about you. Both of you. I thought y’all were safe in the Sickbay, but it seems like you were busy keepin’ everybody else safe. I don’t reckon we would’ve made it off that base without you.”

He turned to Uhura and beamed. She couldn’t help but return his smile. That was one of the things she’d been quite afraid of- that either the Berellians or later on Corbett had done something to him. It seemed like both the senior officers’ penchant for danger _and_ their miraculous luck had come to play today. Mysterious forces though they were, Uhura couldn’t be more grateful.

“Doctor.” L’Nel spoke up quietly. “I believe we should get you to Sickbay.”

McCoy rolled his eyes. The gushing was over, and he was back to his usual self. “Get _me_ to Sickbay, Lieutenant? You’re walkin’ around half-dead, and you think I’m the one who needs medical attention? Talk about makin’ a mountain out of a molehill!”

“As there are neither of those landforms present on a starship, I am inclined to disagree.”

S’Ghrinne chimed in before McCoy could fire back. “I too wish to understand. What purpose would the dwelling of a –ground rodent- have on your starship?”

Uhura chuckled. There was another untranslatable for her algorithm. And they were all fine. Other than L’Nel’s injuries, they’d all come back from the _Sayonelo_ unscathed.

McCoy herded the Lieutenant out of the room and Chapel beckoned the rest to follow suit. Sickbay might be the best place for all of them at the moment. Uhura had supposed there must be things to do, and she was right. Her appointments began with Y’Gare the moment she stepped through the door.

Chapel couldn’t help but smile. Uhura had definitely gone above and beyond with this translator. She’d tinkered with the device itself, translated code to a PADD, fiddled with the tube of toothpaste, and above all made it work. Doctors could talk to patients. Diplomatic conversations were already happening. If she was asked, Chapel would say it was all Uhura’s genius and nothing short of miraculous.

She could hear McCoy hollering again and took that as her cue to get back to work. Surprise of surprises, she found him bent over Spock’s biobed in some sort of debate.

“You’ve got some nerve, leaving like that! I’ve got half a mind to keep you in here for a month!”

Spock was a statue, save for his ascending eyebrow. “Is the other half of your mind similarly clouded with emotionalism?”

McCoy sputtered and Chapel dutifully hid her grin behind her PADD before entering the room properly. “Doctor McCoy, someone really should take a look at that eye. You can’t hide the abrasions, either.” His eyebrows hit the roof and Chapel knew she’d won a point. “Abrasions or bruises, since you’ve been putting a lot of effort into hiding them. I’m a nurse. I see all and know all.”

Now McCoy had two sets of Vulcan eyes trained on him as well. “Abrasions, Doctor?” L’Nel started. McCoy instinctively held his arms against his shirt. “Where were these obtained?”

“And _how_?” Spock’s question was low, but it seemed booming in the relative silence.

Chapel inclined her head as if to say ‘enlighten us, or face my wrath’.

McCoy sighed again, letting his arms drop. Chapel could see she was right- a mix of both around his wrists and forearms- but it didn’t make her any happier.

“It was Corbett. I _did_ say we disagreed.” All the floating eyebrows urged him to continue. “Before he stuck everybody in restraints. Just before, he uh… pulled that trick again.” McCoy gave L’Nel a look and the Lieutenant’s stone face hardened further. “Grabbed my arm with one hand and socked me with the other. I tried to fight him back, but he’d gotten that pretty young doctor in a chokehold already. Corbett did mine and her restraints last, tight as he could.”

Chapel couldn’t say she was surprised by the behavior. Corbett had proven to be an actor and a scoundrel from all she’d seen and heard.

“And you were… being interrogated at this time, Lieutenant?” Spock spoke up from his bed unexpectedly. L’Nel said something under his breath in response, but Chapel couldn’t pick it up.

“There is nothing to forgive.” Spock continued. “You have received the worse treatment by a considerable amount. I would say you have performed your duty admirably, Lieutenant.” He shot a glance and McCoy. “And now, you are relieved.”

No one was paying her any mind, so Chapel slipped away. What had gone on between them on 38 was anyone’s guess, but she could feel something important had occurred. L’Nel didn’t stumble or twitch around Spock. He seemed surer of himself. He’d certainly been confident on the _Sayonelo_. She supposed she ought to ask Uhura about it. The two of them had spent a lot of time together.

At that moment, Uhura was up to her ears in discussion and theory with Doctor Gehrke. He was propped up on his old bed, chatting away about the new translator, the algorithm, the language theory. Scotty was there too, half listening, half admiring Uhura’s handiwork. It was no beautiful machine, but it did the job amazingly. Any engineer could appreciate that.

“It is _astounding_ , Miss Uhura, how you put the pieces together so neatly with just this-…” He gestured to the slap-dash PADD and the translator rod covered in goo. “I am beyond words. This is frustrating for me, as a linguist, but here I am.”

Uhura hid her laugh behind her hand. “Don’t frustrate yourself too much, Doctor Gehrke, or Doctor M’Benga will kick me out.”

“Never. Never!” He promised. “I will be a saint. Though, if your friend the Admiral is busy being attended to, I must have you introduce me to more of our new friends. You would not be opposed to this, Mister Scott?”

Scotty, bless him, was taking the talkative doctor’s antics in stride. “As long as they don’t mess with my engines, aye they can do as they please. And any company is good company in Sickbay, Doctor Gehrke.”

“Alright you two.” Uhura looked between the pair of them, grinning. “Promise to behave and I’ll bring Y’Gare and S’Ghrinne in here.”

Gehrke promised and Scotty even crossed his heart. It wasn’t hard to find the siblings. They were hovering over Admiral Dashydea’s biobed, wondering at the readings and fussing into a tricorder before directing the playback at a nurse. Apparently, Sickbay had borrowed the algorithm from the ship’s computer and used the recording functions of the tricorders to provide communication where possible. Unfortunately, they would screech with static when an untranslatable word was found.

“You have no- rrrzzzzzzzz- display in this hospital? Do they not have –rrzzzzzzzz- sensors?”

S’Ghrinne looked patiently back at Y’Gare. “They do not have –rrzzzzzzz- sensors because they do not have –rrzzzzzzz- at all. This is why our –bzzzrrrr- treatments did not work. Is this correct, Hasley, Nurse?”

Nurse Hasley waited patiently for the siblings to finish but caught sight of Uhura. She beckoned the Lieutenant over and prepared to explain properly.

“Our sensors are calibrated to accommodate species in the Federation, and we use tricorders like that one to determine more specific data points, as they are used in a more…” Hasley searched for the word. Translators couldn’t do everything. “… research-oriented manner.”

S’Ghrinne inclined his head in understanding. “We are grateful for your tricorder device. Since – our communication- is not common to your people, we understand you are doing everything you can. If you can scan for –bioelectric production- -enzyme- -electric function-”

He paused while the translator rolled over the terminology. Uhura tinkered with it for a moment before holding it up and speaking clearly. “Are you saying we should look for an organ or organ system which produces both electric energy and some sort of chemical or enzyme?”

“Yes. It is slightly more complex, but I am sure a doctor could better explain.” S’Ghrinne checked over Dashydea’s readouts again. “I believe she is fine for the time being.”

Uhura nodded. “That’s good to hear. I just have two more questions about this. For our medical department.” This clued Hasley in to pay attention. “Is this a process or an organ, if you can be precise, and is the translator stumbling over its proper name?”

S’Ghrinne’s face lit up. “It is an organ which makes the process. Like the heart-” He gestured to his throat, “-moves blood, the organ produces and directs –energy. It is here.” He pointed to the left side of his chest, opposite of where a human heart would go.

“Thank you. And what is the product called? The one you said we should be looking for? I would like to put the word into this algorithm.”

S’Ghrinne leaned toward the translator, as if to help it understand him better. “Grezir.”

“ _Grezir._ ” Uhura murmured as she typed. “Elongated ‘z’ sound, proper noun, biological process.” She looked up from the PADD and her face practically glowed. “Now, if you two aren’t busy, there’s someone who’s been dying to meet you.”

//*\\\

Chapel sipped her green tea (with a slice of Treivan Lemon and a Georgia-style kick, naturally) and inhaled the scent of sea spray. The sand was golden, the waves light, and the breeze gentle. On top of that, she’d secured McCoy’s bar-in-a-box for the duration of the trip. Yep. All the necessities at her fingertips.

Uhura yawned and stretched out on her own beach towel. She was getting the nap of a lifetime. The moderate sea air and the warm sun kept the temperature just right. Somewhere on the other side of the planet, most of the rest of the crew was skiing, or some nonsense. They were willingly going to freeze, every one of them, when there was this beach all the way out here. But, no, this was the ‘off season’ and there’d be hardly any staff at the lodgings by the beach.

“Y’know, Chris, I think we picked the best spot. Nobody’s here, the weather is beautiful, and I’ve never found it easier to relax. I almost feel sorry for the rest of them, except it’d make our beach a little noisier.”

“Mhmm.” Chapel had another sip of her ‘tea’. “Really, whenever they make shore leave plans, they ought to just leave it to us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
